


Mischief

by Melpomene49



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, F/M, M/M, Meta-human Stiles, Stiles, Stiles Has Powers, Stiles-centric, metahuman, superhero
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-04-08 03:15:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 47,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14095959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melpomene49/pseuds/Melpomene49
Summary: During day, Stiles belongs to a pack back in Beacon Hills, fighting the supernatural. During night, he takes on his identity as Mischief, being part of the Justice League's secret operations team. For two years, he's lead this double life, unbeknowst to his friends. But will an upcoming alien invasion from the Reach change this? Will the pack discover Stiles' secret?





	1. Earthlings

 The high-pitched alarm rang across the building, getting lost through the collapsed ceiling above their heads. Something exploded, heavy rocks hitting the ground. Guns were shot but brought to silence followed by a deep groan.

Shreds of wall laying around hindered their fast pace, as the three young heroes tried to arrive at the scene. They didn’t need to talk, knowing exactly what the plan was.

“ _So that’s how you want to play it? Fine._ ” A deep, robotic voice echoed from the room before them “ _Contract calls for the main man to put on a show for the locals.”_

The heroes fastened their pace.

“So, one more time.” the voice spoke slower “Surrender or die.”

The blonde girl dressed in red and black, with a decorated W printed on her chest, turned to look at the girl wearing a black cape. Not needing a word, the black-dressed bat and leader of the group nodded.

The crumbled door was only a few meters before them but the blonde girl, Wonder Girl, jumped off her feet and gracefully cleared her path through the air.

“…Die it is.” the dark voice confirmed.

Wonder Girl entered the room with a backflip, catching the tall white-skinned monster by surprise. Before the alien had time to see what was coming, Wonder Girl half landed with her hands on his skull, pushing him down and catapulting herself upwards before landing. Ignoring his groan of surprise, she quickly punched him in the gut. Glass shattered to their right as the pressure wave of her enormous strength crashed against it.

Her friend, dressed in a black, skin-tight, leather suit with the silhouette of a green fox on his chest, entered the room in that moment. A black shadow swung into the room from the shattered window, perfectly landing in front of the alien’s victim. A man in a suit; the head of the united nations.

“Wonder Girl, Mischief, keep him busy.” Batgirl ordered “I’ll get secretary General Zheng to safety.”

With those words, she grabbed the old man by his arm and pulled him out of the room.

Wonder Girl hit her fist “All over it, Batgirl.”

AT the same time Mischief joined her side “Don’t leave me with nothing, Wonder Girl”

“Try to keep up” Wonder Girl smiled and returned to the recovering gigantic figure before her. The alien was only wearing a leathered black vest, exposing completely his pale chest. His looming altitude was enough for Mischief to let Wonder Girl attack first.

Wonder Girl stepped forward “Okay, big guy.” She punched him in the face “Let’s see how much punishment you can…”

The alien’s hand suddenly closed around the blonde’s head. Wonder Girl was only able to take in a sharp breath. The young hero was launched across the room, her face hitting what was left of the wall. She fell to the ground hard.

“Curry? Keasy fem thinks she can take down the main man?” the alien asked while his blood-red eyes landed on Mischief.

“How about the keasy _male_ takes down the main man?” Mischief asked and pulled out the two sais from his yellow belt, antique knife-looking weapons.

Mischief jumped into action, turning one sai inside his grip around, aiming for the alien’s head with the weapon’s handle. The alien’s long black mane swung out of vision as it dodged. Mischief was taken by surprise when a fist quickly responded to his attack. He also tried to dodge but couldn’t move fast enough. He flew off his feet. A desk crashed beneath his weight as hit his back hard. Waves of pain radiated from the spot, hindering him from getting up.

“Curry!” the alien shouted. Leaving the two defeated heroes in the room, he walked towards the hidden elevator Batgirl had used to get General Zheng out.

-

The elevator’s doors opened painfully slowly.

“We’ll get you out through the General Assembly Building” Batgirl told Zheng, still pulling him by his arm. They stepped into the deserted room filled with many rows of seats. They were halfway across the passage that divided the front half of the auditory from the back one when metal scratched behind them.

The elevator was crushed into pieces of grey metal beneath the monster’s weight. Batgirl and Zheng were pushed off their feet. Before the alien could get any closer, Batgirl fished two metal marbles from her utility belt and threw.

Clinging quietly, the metal devices landed before the alien’s feet, quietly opening and filling the room with a purple, thick gas. When the fog cleared enough for the alien to see something again, his victims were gone.

-

Mischief and Wonder Girl arrived at the scene just in time. The alien discovered Batgirl and Zheng seeking cover behind a row of seats when Wonder Girl flew in. She swung in flying beneath the alien’s knees, hitting his legs and breaking every contact to the ground. The alien fell hard on his back. Wonder Girl landed a few steps before him.

“Hold it, Clown Face.” she got into a fighting stance “We weren’t done dancing!”

The alien pulled a sword out of his belt, aiming at Wonder Girl. A shadow moved to his left. Rolling into the room, Mischief threw the technologically optimized stars. They exploded the moment they made contact with the alien, giving him enough time to reach Wonder Girl’s side.

The girl threw her leg back before using Mischief’s distraction to kick the alien in the face. She wasn’t as lucky the second time, for the alien grunted in fury and promptly returned to his feet, forcing her to step back with lost balance.

“Keasy Fem!” the alien spat.

Wonder Girl rolled her eyes “Yeah, yeah, keasy Fem. I’ve been called worse.”

Mischief jumped and landed on the creature’s back. He stayed there only a second to hit him with the handles of his sia before jumping to his friend’s side in one swift motion.

“Have you now?” he smiled at her.

Wonder Girl shrugged “I think.”

Losing his temper, the alien swung his fist, aiming to hit both young heroes. Mischief was quick to do a backflip while Wonder Girl dodged.  Not losing a second, she punched and kicked, using the opportunity to end the fight once and for all.

The alien stumbled back, his balance lost. Wonder Girl pulled her lasso from her belt, swinging it once before closing it around the alien’s body. However, the alien only laughed. His hand closed around the rope and pulled. As soon as she was near enough, he punched her with his entire force. Wonder Girl was thrusted back by the force, taking Mischief with her across the hall.

Batgirl glanced up from her hiding place and assessed the situation.

She quickly glanced at Zheng “When I move, run!” she commanded before jumping into action.

The alien spotted her as soon as she landed on a nearby table. She didn’t have time to act. The alien threw the table back, sending her flying off its surface.

Zheng didn’t have time to arrive at the exit. Within seconds, the alien was looming over him.

“Time to die, Krolo.” He said with an inch of a smile.

He grabbed Zheng by his wrists, lifting him off the ground. Zheng yelled something indistinguishable drowned in panic.

Mischief and Wonder Girl got on their feet. They ran towards them, their eyes wide.

The alien groaned and grunted. He pulled Zheng’s arms in opposite directions.

Batgirl was now also on her feet, rushing through the auditory to save the man they were here to protect.

Wonder Girl fastened her pace “No!”

Zheng’s clothes tore apart, Zheng cried. Then, he broke into pieces.

The three young heroes came to an abrupt halt when Zheng broke into many grey metallic pieces connected by colourful wires.

Something green wriggled and groaned inside of the broken metal cast.

Wonder Girl gazed down at the fake human “Eww.”

The alien closed his hands around the tiny, green creature not taller than half an arm’s length. He picked up the creature and looked at it with deeper disgust.

“I don’t think that’s what humans look like on the inside” Mischief commented, his stomach not having recovered yet.

His comment was ignored by everyone present.

“Stop it, Krolo.” The alien told the green creature as it spoke in an undistinguishable language “The main man’s contract’s complete.”

The alien pressed on something in his belt. He looked at the three heroes.

“Keasy fem,” he said.

Mischief frowned “Hey!”

“Your world’s your world.” the alien ended his sentence without acknowledging Mischief’s protest.

The wall behind the alien exploded, blinding Batgirl, Mischief and Wonder Girl with heavy grey smoke. Taken utterly by surprise, their first instinct was to seek cover. Using the distraction, the alien jumped out of the destructed wall, landing safely on a small spaceship.

The heroes saw the turbines start and the fire thrust off the engines. In a matter of seconds, the alien was gone.

Wonder Girl and Mischief quickly walked to the edge of the building.

“For the record,” Mischief spoke up “he also said keasy _male_ ”

Wonder Girl stared after the spaceship “I think-- I think clown face was some kind of alien!”

At the same time Batgirl kneeled in front of the metallic body ripped in two.

“And that’s not even the scary part”

-

It was about 4 pm the following day when Stiles parked his jeep in front of Derek’s apartment. After he had taken the elevator (because there was no way he was taking the stairs after what had happened yesterday), he entered Derek’s loft without bothering to knock. The alpha knew they were all coming, in spite of him not being particularly fond of the idea.

“Don’t fret, my friends, I’ve brought chips and drinks!” he announced, raising his arms triumphantly with said things.

“Thank God, I’m starving!” Erica rose from the sofa and grasped the chips from him, throwing some bags on the couch table and opening one “Saving the day, as always, Batman”

Stiles smiled. If she knew…

“Bro!” Scott walked out of the kitchen “I was hoping you could make it! I wasn’t sure you would come, with visiting your uncle and so.”

They fist-bumped “Missing out on eating trash food and watching horrible movies with the pack?” Stiles asked “Not a chance.”

Jackson didn’t glance up from the TV “McCall, Stillinski, some people are trying to watch the news here.”

Stiles stuck out his tongue.

Laughing, Scott wrapped his arm around his best friend’s shoulders “No changing you, is there?”

“Nope.” Stiles popped the p.

Soon, Scott and Stiles were sitting on the sofa opposite to Jackson (thank God). With a cup of tea in her hands, Allison arrived from the kitchen and siat down on the other side of Scott, wrapping one arm around him.

When her eyes found Stiles’, she smiled warmly “Nice you could make it”

It wasn’t much, but Stiles truly appreciated it. Not like Boyd and Isaac who didn’t acknowledge his arriving at first. When they did, Boyd only allowed himself a quick nod and continued talking to Isaac. Isaac on the other hand, just quickly glanced at Stiles without bothering to say anything.

That might be related to their common… arguments. But Stiles still would’ve liked at least to be noted.

Jackson changed the channel they were watching, looking for something more entertaining than a reality show.

“Why aren’t we watching a movie?” Stiles frowned.

Erika ended chewing the chip she had in her mouth before answering “Derek just took a shower after training, we’re waiting for him”

“We are totally invading his privacy” Stiles smiled and high-fived Scott.

“You’re so pathetic” Jackson muttered.

Stiles was about to stick out his tongue a second time when his eyes landed on the screen. Recognizing the auditory, he frowned.

“Turn that up, Jackson.” he said without thinking “I want to know what’s going on.”

An all too familiar (and disliked) voice spoke as security footage of an black-haired alien tearing a senator into two metallic pieces was shown.

 _“See? See? The big alien rips open the phony secretary, Zheng, and pulls out the little alien_.” the British voice said.

The image of the two aliens disappeared and Gordon Geofrey, one of GBS’s newsmen, talked in front of the camera.

 _“Oh, I know what you’re saying, folks.”_ he continued _“Good ol’ G. Gordon’s lost it. What’s this? The eigth billionth time he’s run that clip? But that’s because I’m trying to wake you up!”_

Erika laughed into her bag of chips “Who would’ve thought? Aliens do exist!”

“When the flying man Superman saved an entire city, that’s when you should’ve realized.” Isaac told her.

Allison frowned “Well, I didn’t believe that aliens-among-us-thing either at first” she defended her friend “A flying man? Not so easy to believe.”

Still harbouring some hard feelings on her, Isaac didn’t take her comment lightly.

“You are dating a werewolf.” he reminded her coldly “And your family are hunters. With knifes. Sharp ones, might I add.”

Allison went quiet.

“I’m just saying, how long until that happens to us?” Erika returned to the conversation “I could be a superhero. We could form our own Justice League.”

Scott scoffed “I think handling Beacon Hills is hard enough already.”

Stiles didn’t say a thing. Trying to ignore his friends, he focussed on the TV.

 _“…Who, exactly, are they trying to protect?”_ Gordon was saying while the Justice League’s name flashed on screen _“Ok, sure, Superman and the Man Hunter from Mars seem to be on the side of the angels, but that’s two aliens in the good column, and two in the bad.”_

Stiles tried his very best to keep his heart calm. He couldn’t show the pack this upset him. He couldn’t show them that he hated Gordon. His uncle, Bruce Wayne, had allowed him to return to Beacon Hills two years ago with one condition.

Not telling anyone a single thing about his night activities.

Coming out of his thoughts, Stiles realized another reporter was now on screen. A young, blonde woman standing in front of The Hall of Justice, one of the Justice League’s headquarters.

He leaned forward.

_“This is Cat Grant at the Hall of Justice. I’m going to try and get a statement from the two newest members of The League, Zatanna and Rocket.”_

A black-haired girl with pale skin walked into the frame, a short-haired girl with dark skin followed. Cat extended her microphone towards her.

The long-haired one, Zatanna, raised her hand “No comment”

Isaac leaned back on his couch “They should say something.” he commented “The world could be ending, and we wouldn’t know.”

Steps came from behind them “Like we should tell Beacon Hills that there was a giant lizard walking around killing people and fighting werewolves?”

No one answered.

Derek sat down next to Erika “I didn’t think so.”

Stiles couldn’t help but smile. Without knowing it, Derek had just done something incredibly meaningful to him. At least the butterflies in his stomach thought so.

 _“What’s The League hiding_?” Gordon’s voice was back _“We know it provides safe haven for a Kryptonian and a Martian, but what if that’s not all? What if the amazons came from outer space? Or the atlantians? How do we really know Flash isn’t an alien? Or Hawk Man? Or Icon? What are they keeping from the real earthlings? Like us!”_

Stiles couldn’t help it “ _You_ sure aren’t a tolerable earthling.”

Suddenly, all eyes were directed on him. Scott glanced at him with a light frown, probably wondering the same thing everyone in the room was.

Stiles rushed to explain “What? He’s just blabbering!” he pointed at the screen “I lived in Gotham and I saw Batman helping people! It’s stupid to thank him like that for all he has done.”

Jackson rose his eyebrows “Doesn’t your uncle’s company help funding The Justice League?”

“That has _so_ nothing to do with it.” Stiles defended himself. “And Sourwolf might be right. Our lives are as shitty as theirs. Understanding, right?”

Isaac raised his eyebrows “I wouldn’t mind having that kind of powers.”

“Would make everything a lot easier around here.” Erika smiled.

A punch of guilt hit Stiles in the chest.

“Come on guys, we’re not here to talk about politics.” Allison spoke up, leaning her head on Scott’s shoulder “That whole alien-thingy happens in big cities. Not here. Why should we care?”

Scott smiled at her and touched her lips with his.

“You’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

“I wouldn’t say _that_.”

Stiles groaned “My God! Put on the movie right now!”

As Jackson arranged the movie, their conversation returned to normal topics. The visiting pack that was going to pass through Derek’s territory, the new training exercise they still had to practise and the weird looking fairies that wouldn’t stop showing up in the woods.

Well, at least it was normal for a group of friends that consisted of werewolves, a hunter and a nice, defenceless human sidekick. A group of supernatural friends that called themselves a pack.

-

The following day, January 4th, Stiles spent his entire afternoon watching his friends train. It had started with Derek taking his shirt off and daring the four betas to bring him down. In the end, Allison had joined. Furthermore, Stiles was proud to admit his buddy Scott had been the only one to bring Derek down, even if it was only one time.

Like many times in the past, Stiles had felt a tug on his heart, wanting to join and teach them. To fight with them and show them what he could do. But his uncle had been very clear, especially when they had had the my-best-friend-is-a-werewolf-talk.

Thus, Stiles remained in the side lines, cheering for his favourite beta and glancing at an certain alpha every now and then. Lydia sat by his side after she had arrived with Jackson. While the five werewolves were trying to tear each other to pieces, Lydia and Stiles had fun betting who would be the first one to go down the upcoming round.

All in all, Stiles had had a great day. According to Derek, another pack was travelling the country and wanted to pay the old Hale household a visit. He didn’t expect any trouble, but, being his old paranoiac self, Derek wanted his pack to be utterly fit and prepared for anything. Which meant training hard.

Finally, at 7 pm, Stiles let himself fall on his bed. Exhausted, although he hadn’t been the one training. Admittedly, he was still a bit sore of his encounter with the aliens.

Since his Dad would work at the station for the entire night, Stiles had the entire house to himself. Luckily for Stiles, there was only one thing that came into question under those circumstances. Watching Star Wars.

But just when he was about to get up from his heavenly mattress and head for the couch, his black phone rang. Stiles had only two phones, each one belonging to one of his specific lives. He knew what the call was about before he answered it.

As a matter of fact, his cousin only exchanged a few words with him before Stiles knew Star Wars wasn’t going to happen tonight. Promising to arrive at Mount Justice within the next 30 minutes, he pushed himself out of bed and got on his jeep.

Close to the cemetery was a small wooden cabin, abandoned and ignored by everyone. When he had moved back to Beacon Hills, his uncle had found in that cabin the perfect hideout for his sidekick.

It was only minutes before Stiles packed the necessary things and headed there.

-

Almost the entire team was already there when Mischief arrived. Nightwing and Mal were standing in front of two floating blue screens, pointing at the map, files and data displayed on them. Bumblebee, Batgirl, Lagoon, Blue Beetle and Wonder Girl were already in the entrance hall, waiting for Nightwing and Mal to assign them their next mission.

“Hermano, you’re late.” Blue Beetle greeted as Mischief arrived next to him.

Mischief glanced around “And Superboy isn’t?”

Blue Beetle shrugged. His entire body was covered by the blue armour his scarab provided him with while his face was covered by a black mask, only letting his orange eyes stick out.

“He’ll get here soon, hermano, chill.”

Wonder Girl joined their conversation “Blue, how about you bring Mischief in on what Nightwing said, instead of bugging him?”

Mischief smiled. “ _Bugging_.”

Ignoring the grimacing company, Blue Beetle pointed at one of the blue screens before him “Remember the little green guy inside Zheng?”

“Hard to forget.”

“He’s part of an alien race, the Kroloteans” Blue Beetle continued explaining “According to data from the League, they travel in packs.”

 “Oh, can you make it any _more_ boring?” Lagoon jumped into their conversation. His green scales shimmered under the cave’s light “The Kroloteans are using zeta beam transportation to get here. There are more of them. We get to kick buts. Done.”

“It was good. _It was good_.” Blue Beetle muttered quietly, almost reproaching to himself.

Mischief placed his hand on his shoulder “No worry, I’ve heard worse”

-

“It’s all hands on deck.” Nightwing explained, standing in front of the blue screens “The League and the Team will hit all 14 Krolotean zeta locations simultaneously.”

He walked over to a screen, displaying a world map with red points scattered around the globe “Your priorities are to destroy all zeta tubes or platforms and search for any human the aliens may have abducted.”

“As always, Mal is ops. manager, coordinating com. from here.” He pointed at someone inside the group of attentive teenagers “Wonder Girl, you and I are alpha.”

Said girl raised her fist in victory “Yes!”

“Batgirl, Bumblebee, you two and Wolf are beta.” Nightwing continued and walked over to the four remaining teenagers “Robin, Lagoon, Beetle, Mischief, you’re gamma. Prep the bio ship. You’re headed to New Orleans.”

Rolling his eyes, Lagoon was the first one to turn around and head out “Gamma always gets the _soft gigs_.” He muttered beneath his breath.

Mischief would’ve told him soft gigs weren’t always bad, but as he turned around to follow Blue Beetle and Lagoon, Nightwing spoke behind him.

“Tim, Stiles, wait a second” the black-dressed and masked hero said, closing his hand around Tim’s wrist while grabbing Mischief’s with his other hand.

Wondering what he wanted to talk about, Robin and Mischief glanced at each other before turning to look at their older relative.

Nightwing’s eyes first landed on Robin “Tim, you’ll be running gamma.”

“Me?” Robin’s eyes widened “Dick, I’ve never led a squad before.”

“Making this a good opportunity to get your feet wet as a field leader.”

Robin’s eyes turned into thin slits “Because it’s gamma and you’re not expecting trouble, or because we’re stretched thin and you have no choice?”

Nightwing glanced at Mischief who only shrugged. He didn’t want to be part of any discussion amongst the two brothers, he knew how heated it could get. Especially, because they were very educated and trained on _various_ martial arts.

Nightwing sighed and looked at both “Just don’t die, OK?”

Ignoring Robin’s widening eyes, Nightwing shifted his attention to Mischief.

“Stiles, Batgirl told me you were hesitant to use your abilities on the last mission.” He told him “Even though it could’ve given you a vast advantage.”

Mischief’s palms started to sweat “It didn’t seem necessary and it takes a lot of concentration to…”

Nightwing’s hand fell comfortingly on his shoulder “I’m not nagging.” He explained “I just wanted to tell you that Batman thinks you should start getting more comfortable with them. They might be very useful someday.”

Mischief nodded.

“Don’t be afraid to use them. They are part of you as much as your lungs are.” Nightwing said.

When Mischief and Robin were about to turn around and leave, NIghtwing decided to speak again.

“And no unnecessary risks to the squad. That’s an order.”

-

They arrived at the blinking red point on the monitor about two hours later. Sitting inside the bio ship’s cockpit, Mischief glanced out of the flying vehicle’s window to see what they were supposed to find.

Covered in shadows, old and rusty cars were piled on top of each other forming row after row. Missing parts and trash were laying on the dumpster’s ground, accumulating where the space hadn’t been enough to pile up more trash parts of the cars.

It took Mischief a couple of seconds to find what they were looking for. A cabin that could serve as a zeta beam tele-transportation portal. Most of the zeta beam tubes were hidden in the most obvious, but inhabited places for the League and the Team to use during their missions.

“A tool shed?” Mischief asked when his eyes landed on the red cabin, not bigger than a public toilet cabin. “Barely enough room for one zeta tube in there.”

Lagoon scoffed sitting in the middle of the room on the pilot’s seat “I knew we got the _soft gig.”_

“And yet,” Blue Bettle turned to look at him with a smile “I’m strangely OK with that.”

He brought his hands beneath his head and leaned back on his seat. However, in a matter of seconds, calmness vanished from his features and he leaned forward.

“Yes, I am.” He muttered to himself and looked at the floor. “Yes, I am. Yes, I am!”

Without Blue Beetle noticing, Robin, Lagoon and Mischief stared at him with slight frowns on their faces. After a few moments of heavy silence, Robin pressed a button in front of him.

“Gamma squad to cave. We’re in position” he announced as Mal’s image was projected in front of him.

“Acknowledged, gamma.” Mal answered “All team squads and Justice League units are in place and ready. Go time.”

-

“Congratulations, Blue.” Lagoon said bitterly as he landed on the shed’s rubble “You took out an actual tool shed.”

Mischief rolled his eyes and swiftly jumped from his upper position above a pile of cars. He landed next to Lagoon, finding only the remaining wood pieces of the shed that hadn’t been destroyed by Beetle’s sonic attack.

“Gamma to cave.” Robin activated his com “There’s no zeta tube here. No Kroloteans, no hidden entrance.”

Lagoon kicked the last remaining box of tools on the floor.

“Watchtower sensors still trace zeta radiation from the site.” Mal answered through their coms.

Mischief and Blue Beetle frowned, there wasn’t any trace of Kroloteans here. With their training and powers, there was no way they would’ve missed something like that.

Robin looked at his phone.

“Confirmed”

Mischief, Lagoon and Blue Beetle looked at each other frowning.

“But the radiation signature is coming from…” Robin was still staring at his phone but had caught his friend’s attention “…below the water line!”

He turned to look at Lagoon “You’re up.”

-

Following Lagoon beneath the water, Robin, Mischief and Blue Beetle found their way into the subterranean entrance. Using atlantian magic, Lagoon inflated his muscles within seconds, providing him with enough force to hold the entrance open as the three heroes swam into a tunnel.

When they arrived at the surface, they were met with something far greater than anything they could’ve expected.

They found themselves in a gigantic cave. A river surrounding the piece of land in the middle. Above their heads were metallic, oval-shaped bridges. All seven of them leading to a circular platform each. In the middle of the cave and on the ending side of the bridges was one final, far bigger platform. A broad column rose from that last platform, reaching the cave’s ceiling.

Technology was in every corner of the room. Starting with the small pads near the smaller platforms and ending in the enormous screens and keyboards hanging from the enormous column.

But what surprised the heroes most, was the incredible number of Kroloteans in the room. Most of them were standing on the bigger platform, typing into the keyboards. However, many were walking from a bridge to another. Others walked over to the platforms, disappearing inside yellow fogs of light.

Meanwhile, more Krolotenas talked to each other in growls and squirms, a language utterly foreign to humans. A particular Krolotean, wearing a red band of leather across his shoulders, was talking to a crowd of people. Pointing at various places while some listened and others wrote what he was saying, the Krolotenas followed his orders.

Robin was the first one to climb out of the water, crawling behind a small block of cement that helped support the bridges. Lagoon, Mischief and Blue Beetle quickly followed. They pressed their backs against the stone and crouched down, trying to become as small as possible to go by unnoticed.

“Gamma to cave.” Robin activated his com. “We hit the mother lode. Huge base. Alien tech.”

He looked over his shoulder at a platform where Kroloteans were disappearing.

“Multiple zeta, uh, platforms.” He spoke “And more Kroloteans than I can count.”

Mal’s voice replied through their earpieces in a heartbeat. “Acknowledged. We’ll send back-up. Until then, lay _low_.”

Barely had Mal ended saying his last words when a shrill beeping filled the cave. It wasn’t very loud, but it was enough for Blue Beetle to glance up from their cover.

“That may be a problema, ese.” He spoke hesitantly.

Mischief, Robin and Lagoon followed his example and turned to look at the column. Mischief’s eyes widened. Their image filled the many screens, exposing their whereabouts to all Kroloteans.

He turned around only to spot a green, oval-thing with a lens pointing at them. His teammates soon did the same as he, finding the camera that was streaming their image live for all Kroloteans.

Mischief’s heart sped up. The Kroloteans near the columns dropped their activities immediately and came crawling towards them at full speed. A tide of green, little creatures heading their way.

For a moment, neither of the young heroes was able to speak. Their eyes wide, their mouths gaping open, they only stared at the storm heading at them. The alarm pounded in the background, their image still on screen, directing all attention towards them.

Mischief’s eyes filled with darkness as he turned to gaze at Lagoon. “ _Soft gig_ , huh?”

The tide of Kroloteans jumped off the bridges, landing on the soft ground around the river, only a few metres from the heroes. Their hearts beating at full speed, Mischief, Lagoon and Blue Beetle turned to look at their leader.

Pulling his long stick from his back, Robin jumped from behind the cube, landing on its top. His eyes brushed every corner of the cave, calculations running through his mind.

“Form up!” Robin’s grip tightened around his wooden staff “Blue, you have our six!”

Blue jumped to his feet “Sí, hermano.”

Lagoon and Mischief jumped from behind their cover, safely landing by Robin’s side.

“Mischief, cover as much as ground as possible.” Robin’s eyes landed on Mischief “Distract as many of them as you can.”

Mischief’s heart turned into a rock. For a second, he wished Robin hadn’t heard what Nightwing had told them when leaving the cave. However, he knew the Kroloteans were too many and him taking care of a distraction clearly optimized their survival opportunities.

Pushing the dark voices to the back of his mind, Mischief nodded.

“Stay liquid, Minnows.” Lagoon said before jumping into the masses of Kroloteans.

Like before, his tattoos glowed while his muscles grew. With his tidal strength, Lagoon smashed and punched around him, sending Kroloteans flying off their feet.

Meanwhile, Robin followed, swinging his stick in circles and jumping swiftly from one place to another to fend the Kroloteans off.

Mischief stayed in his spot and took the cave in for one second before closing his eyes. Ignoring his throbbing heart, he concentrated in the darkness. The seven platforms and the one thick column appeared before his mind, all of it connected by bridges.

When the image was clear enough inside his mind, Mischief added his own silhouette to the picture, drawing it seven additional times.

His eyes opened. Standing in front of every platform was another version of himself. All of them looking alike, wielding the two sias to attack Kroloteans and disperse the attack through the entire cave.

The illusion wouldn’t last long, neither would his strength, but it took a huge burden off his friend’s shoulders.

Pulling out his own sias, Mischief jumped forward, joining Robin. The Boy Wonder’s stick started buzzing, sending blue sparks off its end as it hit Kroloteans. The small creatures whined in pain at the electricity, falling to the ground in heaps.

However, they were soon replaced. More Kroloteans took their place, trying to jump on Robin, forcing him to the ground. Mischief didn’t hesitate to help his friend. Jumping out of range of the creature’s around him, he landed next to Robin. In a heartbeat, his sias swung back to hit the creatures, sending them flying off his friend’s body.

Lagoon struggled with more Kroloteans nearer to the main platform. Overwhelmed by the situation, he dug his fingers into the ground, ripping the pavement in a strong wave from the soil. Kroloteans lost the ground beneath their feet and crashed back.

As they fought, sweat ran down Mischief’s face. His muscles got heavy. His breaths grew shallower. With a quick glance, Mischief confirmed his dreadful superstition. His illusions were flickering, the Kroloteans jumping through them. Not bouncing off them. He wouldn’t be able to hold them for long.

“Anyone with a brilliant plan?” he asked aloud, hoping Robin would tell them what to do.

Lagoon grunted in response as he threw more Kroloteas off his body, Robin was too busy jumping between the creatures.

Blue Beetle used his armour’s wings to propel himself off the ground. With only one glance at his surroundings, he activated his canon. Sonic waves crashed into rows of Kroloteans, sending dozens of them falling off the bridges.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

The Krolotean with the leather band around his shoulder, screeched terrified, pointing at Blue Beetle. In utter unison, all Kroloteans made a 180 degree turn, heading back to the column and abandoning every kind of fight they had been involved in. 

“Wow! They really don’t like you.” Lagoon smiled as his muscles returned to their normal size and he fought the few Kroloteans left “I’m a little jealous!”

More aliens screeched. They tide turned away from them. The Kroloteans headed for the platforms, disappearing in yellow light.

Blue Beetle’s eyes widened “He said what?!”

“He said he’s jealous:” Mischief repeated Lagoon’s words, closing his eyes for a moment to dissolve his projections.

Lagoon grunted “Don’t rub it in.”

“Not you!” Blue Beetle frowned and pointed at the red-dressed Krolotean “That jefe over there!”

Robin hit a Krolotean in the face with his staff “Wait! You can understand his screeching? How!”

“I—I don’t know, exactly.” Blue beetle stammered, still floating a few meters above the ground “But I can. Jefe is ordering all the Kroloteans to zeta off-world.”

His eyes suddenly widened “He’s setting this base to self-destruct in four minutes!”

Mischief spotted the monitors, displaying four circles, embroidered with vines and symbols. One of them changing each second.

“The clock!” he pointed at the screen.

Robin started retreating towards the water while still shoving Kroloteans aside “Then we’re getting out. Anything else I need to know?”

“No sé.” Blue Beetle landed by his side “He said something about sacrificing the play things below?”

“Play things?” Robin frowned.

Mischief’s eyes widened “Oh, man, the abductees!”

“Three minutes 30, ese, then BOOM!” Blue Beetle warned, looking at the clock.

“And Nightwing said no unnecessary risks to the squad.” Robin muttered. He looked up at his teammates “But this _is_ necessary.”

“Below! We have to get below!” he told Mischief, Lagoon and Blue Beetle.

Lagoon pointed a few metres away from them “There!”

Kroloteans were jumping out of holes carved into the cave’s walls. The holes were across the cave, their path blocked by Kroloteans rushing towards their nearest platform, frantically pushing each other.

“Beetle on point, go!” Robin shouted.

Jumping off his feet and spreading his wings, Blue Beetle answered “Going!”

Flying at full speed across the cave, he pressed his arms against each other, creating a thick shield with his armour. Kroloteans were knocked off their feet as they crashed against the blue metal. The smart ones jumped off the bridge, clearing the path for the flying hero.

-

After following the tunnels the holes had lead them to, the heroes arrived at a lonely room. A single passageway leading to a enormous cage across the entrance.

A distracted Krolotean hit Blue Beetle’s shield, his head cracking at the impact while the creature fell backwards. Robin didn’t stop running, but pointed at the alien.

“Grab him!”

Blue Beetle did exactly as told, closing his head around the creature’s neck before returning to their fast-paced race.

“Hello? Is someone there? Please, get us out!” a silent voice pleaded from the other end of the room.

Mischief and Robin took the lead, running towards the source of the sound.

Various people were locked inside the cage, standing behind the bars. The moment their eyes landed on the two heroes, they grinned.

A man in a brown shirt’s smile widened “It’s Robin! The Boy Wonder!” he joyfully announced “And Batman’s other sidekick! The new one!”

A woman’s shoulders dropped in relief “Thank heaven.”

Within seconds, their calmness turned into horror. The woman’s eyes widened. The man stepped back, closing his arm protectively around her.

A man in a suit raised his hand over his head protectively “More aliens!”

The woman gasped in horror “Go away!”

The abductees screamed and looked for cover. Mischief and Robin turned around only to see Blue Beetle and Lagoon arrive at their side. With his blue armour covering his entire body and his green skin, Blue Beetle and Lagoon didn’t look entirely human, but the abductees’ reactions still made Mischief and Robin frown.

“Hey, we’re not aliens!” Blue Beetle defended himself. He turned to look at the Krolotean in his hands and shrugged “OK, well, he is. But we’re not!”

Robin ignored Blue Beetle and stepped aside to let Lagoon come closer “Get this open.”

With shining tattoos, Lagoon’s body grew once more. The woman inside the cage screamed. A young man’s eyes rolled back in his head. The brown-dressed man closed his arms protectively around the woman.

With a grunt, Lagoon’s hands closed around the bars. He pulled them in opposite directions, opening the cage in a matter of seconds.

His body returned to normal, leaving him in front of the crowd of people that just realized they had been saved by the green person in front of them.

A man in a suit stared at him speechless “Thank you. We didn’t mean—."

Lagoon stepped forward and smiled at the man in the suit, the real General Zheng “It’s fine. I get that a lot, chum.”

Mischief rushed into the cage to help the abductees get on their feet. He kneeled in front of the knocked-out man and shook his shoulder. Luckily, the impact hadn’t been lasting. Within the next seconds, his eyes fluttered open. While he helped the man get on his feet, Robin turned to look at Blue Beetle.

“Ask him the fastest way out.” He pointed at the Krolotean.

“Dude, I don’t speak the—” Blue Beetle’s eyes widened. He turned to look at the Krolotean in his hand “Wait, you can? Well, what are you waiting for?”

Mischief and Lagoon exchanged a confused glance while Robin only stared at Blue Beetle with wide eyes. None of them understood why their friend often behaved that way, without even noticing how weird it was.

“Blue’s an odd little fish, isn’t he?” Lagoon whispered for only Mischief to hear.

As in command, Blue started grunting and screeching, pointing at the Krolotean. The creature pointed behind them and answered something in his language. Finally, Blue Beetle turned to look at Robin. But when his mouth opened, none of the heroes understood a word of the screeching coming out of it.

Blue Beetle shook his head “I mean, this way!” he pointed behind him and took off “Come on!”

With one last hesitant look, Mischief, Robin, Lagoon and the rescued abductees followed him through the tunnels.

-

First, there was only a chaos and light everywhere. After a few seconds, the explosion dispersed, only leaving the crackling of fire. It was moments later when coughing and grunting filled the air.

The abductees were the first ones get out of the river’s surface. Their heads popped up, water dripping down their hair as they saw the raging fire burning a few metres behind them. Although the only light came from the moon above their heads, relief filled their hearts at its sight. It had been a long time since they had been in the outside with nothing but the sky loaming over their heads.

The next ones to join the surface were Robin and Blue Beetle, the latter still holding the Krolotean in his hands. The former removed the square device he used for breathing under water from his mouth.

“Where are Lagoon and Mischief?” he asked, his head jumping from left to right in concern.

At the same time, Mischief and Lagoon popped over the surface. Although Mischief was clearly trying to hide it, Robin noticed his cousin was having a lot of trouble holding himself up. Thus, so subtle that only Robin noticed, Lagoon had one arm wrapped around Mischief’s waist under the water.

Lagoon raised his other hand triumphantly and closed his eyes in victory.

“Gamma squad rules!” he shouted submerged in glory, earning a small laugh from Mischief.

Hearing those words, Robin sighed in relief. A tiny smile appeared on his face. The mission could have definitely gone worse.

-

An hour later, Mischief, Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing teleported back to the home they would always share. Gotham City.

When their names were announced by the female zeta tube voice, the yellow light took shape as four silhouettes. To their surprise, Alfred was already waiting inside for them. Sitting in front of the biggest screen in the Batcave, the mansion’s butler had his nose stuck in a book cradled in his hands.

“Glad to see you all pay me a visit” his British voice got louder as he looked up from the book “Master Bruce will join in a few moments. There’s some business in the League he needs to attend to first.”

Nightwing smiled as he walked to Alfred’s side “Did you make these for us?” he asked the butler, pointing at a tablet with cookies and glasses of milk “Man, Alfred, you’re the best.”

Alfred got up from his seat and brushed the dust off his suit “Indeed, I’ve been told.”

Batgirl and Robin soon followed Nightwing’s example, grasping two cookies from the plate each while closing a hand around a glass of milk.

“Thanks, Alfred.” Batgirl smiled at Alfred.

The butler nodded “You’re very welcome, Mistress Barbara.”

While they were enjoying their mid-night snacks, Mischief quietly and slowly walked over to the seat Alfred had just vacated. Contrary to his cousins, he wasn’t interested as much in the cookies as he was in getting a long and lethargic sleep.

Deciding there was nothing endangering his identity, Mischief loosened the knot in the back of his head. The mask around his eyes slid off his face, landing like a necklace around his neck. His entire face completely exposed, Mischief turned back into Stiles.

Robin followed his example as soon as he ended his third cookie, turning into Tim. Next was Batgirl becoming Barbara. Finally, Dick took NIghtwing’s place.

For a second Stiles considered getting on his feet and getting a cookie and some milk for himself but his muscles had turned into lead after he had used his abilities. He feared his legs would give up beneath him if he tried to stand.

 _“Recognised. Batman 02._ ” The zeta tube spoke.

The Batfamily turned to look at their mentor arriving through the zeta tube. Effectively, Batman formed from a haze of yellow, pulling down his hood as he walked towards his proteges, turning into Bruce Wayne.

“I see Alfred has already taken care of you.” he said as he spotted the almost emptied plate.

His eyes quickly brushed past Stiles before landing on the group of three standing around the cookies. Taking off his gloves, he leaned on one of the many desks in the Batcave. He was only a meter to Stiles’ right, while the team was behind the desk to his left.

“You did well tonight.” he told them “Especially, you, Tim. The situation wasn’t easy and unexpected. Yet you managed.”

Blushing slightly, Tim looked down at his glass of milk.

Dick laughed and elbowed Tim’s side “Yeah, dude, way to get your feet wet.”

“Since Master Bruce announced you all would be coming within the next hour, I decided it proper to prepare something for you.” Alfred raised his voice “If you would take a shower and come to the manor’s living room, I’d be pleased to show you.”

Bruce smiled “You’re too thoughtful, but Alfred, they need to rest. Some--” his eyes fell on Stiles and Tim “--have to go to school tomorrow.”

Barbara and Tim’s eyes lost their sparks. Nightwing’s shoulders dropped.

“But—" Bruce’s gazed turned at the blue monitor displaying the Kroloteans’ destroyed bases “—since the mission was a success and it’s too late for patrol, we may allow us to break the rules for once.”

Smiling, Tim and Barbara drank their glasses content up and headed for the cave’s elevator. Dick offered Alfred his help with carrying the mess they had made back to the kitchen. Thankful, the butler agreed. Thus, they also headed out of the Batcave.

Stiles was about to try and get up, hoping Bruce wouldn’t notice his trembling limbs.

However, before he could do so, his uncle spoke up. “Tim told me what you did tonight.”

Turning his chair, Stiles faced Bruce. His eyes were digging their way into his.

“I’m proud you tried to use your powers.” He continued. Stiles’ heart almost exploded in joy “The mission was as much your success as it was Tim, Lagoon and Blue Beetle’s.”

Stiles smiled shyly “Thanks.”

Bruce got on his feet “But,” he intervened “he also told me you were seriously weakened by overusing them.”

“That’s, uhm…” Stiles scratched his neck, trying to come up with something “That’s just _partly_ true.”

He was met with a risen eyebrow “That’s why you are sitting and haven’t tried to get up?”

Stiles knew replying was only going to make him lose. There was no way he could argue against Bruce’s brilliant, deductive mind.

His uncle sighed and walked over to him. Swinging his nephew’s arm around his neck, he helped him get on his feet. Stiles had to admit, it felt incredible to not have to hold his entire weight by himself. Using his powers for so long and creating that many projections had exhausted his body. Not less because he never used them.

“Let’s get you upstairs to your old room.” Bruce helped him walk towards the elevator “You need rest right now for your body to recover.”

Although a part of Stiles was incredibly thankful for his uncle helping and taking care of him, another part of him didn’t want any help. He wasn’t weak, he could perfectly take care of himself. He didn’t want Bruce to think he needed any special care. That he wasn’t strong enough.

“But you said it yourself, I have school tomorrow, I need to beam back to Beacon Hills.” He protested, trying to carry more of his own weight by himself.

Bruce most certainly noticed but didn’t say a word.

“I’ll wake you tomorrow soon enough.” he promised as they entered the elevator “But you really do need a few hours of sleep. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“But…”

“Stiles,” his uncle interrupted, bringing every protest to silence “Don’t be as stubborn as Claudia and accept someone else’s help for once.”

The elevator’s doors opened.

Stiles sighed in defeat. “Fine.”

-

“Dude, why weren’t you answering your phone last night?” Scott whispered from his desk “I called you like _four_ times.”

“Don’t know if you’ve heard of it,” Stiles replied quietly “but there’s something _normal_ people usually do at night. It’s called sleep. You should try it sometime.”

Scott glimpsed quickly at Coach in front of the class, making sure he didn’t notice them talking.

“What if I had been murdered and you hadn’t noticed?”

Stiles rose his eyebrows “ _Were_ you murdered?”

Scott hesitated “That’s not the point.”

“Fine.” Stiles continued copying from the board “I’m sorry, next time you’ll get murdered and I don’t answer, leave a voice mail. I’ll rescue you as soon as I can.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Stiles saw Scott shake his head.

Stiles looked up at him and smiled innocently “Come on, you can’t stay mad at your best friend.”

Suddenly, Tiffany, the girl sitting in front of Stiles, spun around “Can the two of you _please_ keep it quiet?”

The long-haired, purple-jacketed girl didn’t wait for an answer. She turned back to face the board and continued writing.

For a couple of minutes Stiles really tried to stay quiet. However, it was just a matter of time until the bomb of curiosity exploded in his chest. Letting his pen fall on the paper, Stiles turned to look at Scott.

“What happened?” he asked “Why did you call last night?”

Scott curved his spine and came closer to Stiles “Derek found some weird symbols in the woods. The pack is meeting up tonight to see what we can find.”

“McCall! Stillinski! Eyes on the board!” Coach’s screamed abruptly.

Taken by surprise, Stiles flinched. Their conversation ended with a last glimpse at each other. Scott pointed with his chin at the door. The message was clear. They’d talk about it after class.

-

Stiles was glad he didn’t have to pretend being utterly exhausted by the long walk. Usually, when the pack made some sort of physical effort, Stiles was forced to hide his condition. Since he had turned eight, his uncle and his cousins had trained with him on a daily basis. When he had turned ten, Bruce had allowed him to go out on patrol and help as Robin. After joining the team, which had already had Tim as Robin, he’d changed his alias to Mischief, honouring the memories of his mother.

Thus, Stiles could move, run and fight in a way the pack couldn’t even imagine. Displaying impressive physical prowess would, however, most definitely raise questions among his group of friends. There was only one solution. Stiles just complained about incredible exhaustion whenever he saw fit.

But today, he didn’t have to fake a thing. As Derek lead them through the dense forest with broken branches laying on top of each other, reaching as tall as their knees, Stiles’ limbs quickly became heavy, his breathing laboured.

His body was still quite exhausted from overusing his powers. He hadn’t slept much. Luckily, the pack didn’t notice anything was wrong. As always, they just assumed Stiles got slower and fell behind because he wasn’t a werewolf.

While Isaac, Boyd and Erica didn’t bother lowering their pace, Scott stayed by his side throughout the entire time.

“Dude, how can Derek go out jogging when there’s no fricking path?” Stiles wondered aloud, voicing his frustration “And why _would_ he go jogging in the middle of the night?”

Scott smiled “Face it, we’ve caught Derek doing weirder things.”

“What exactly did he find?” Stiles wondered.

Walking a few metres in front of them, Derek glanced over his shoulder “There are some trees further back, all of them marked with the same symbols. The marked trees form a star when connecting them. That seemed like something worth checking out.”

Stiles smiled “Wise call, Sourwolf.”

“Stiles, did you watch the news yesterday?” Erica suddenly asked, surprising everyone.

“Why don’t werewolves understand?” Stiles complained “Normal people _need_ sleep. They sleep at night. They aren’t awake doing things. They _sleep_.”

He didn’t miss Scott’s supressed laugh to his right.

“Why’d you ask?” Isaac cleared a branch from his path.

“Just ‘cause.” Erica shrugged “Stiles is always interested in aliens and stuff, I thought he’d heard of it.”

Stiles eyes were now set as firm as stone on Erika “What happened with the aliens?”

She smiled triumphantly “This man… Gordon? The one you don’t like. He said the Justice League found the way the aliens were getting to earth. Apparently, they had secret bases and stuff. Anyway, there’s now something around the earth, protecting us.”

Scott frowned “No more aliens?”

“I have no clue.” Erica shrugged again “Anyway, I though it’d interest you, Stiles.”

“Yeah, thanks, Erika.” He smiled at her.

In front of them Derek joined the conversation without turning around “And what about the United Nations alien?”

“That was an alien hunting an alien.” Stiles quickly explained. He knew he should’ve kept quiet but when it came to Derek, his mind tended to lose most of its rationality “It was a bounty hunter called Lobo hunting the alien race Krolotean. But he’s long gone.”

It took Stiles a moment to realize all eyes were on him with risen eyebrows, even Derek’s.

“Dude, how do you know?” Scott asked surprised.

Stiles looked down at the twigs “I read it on the internet.”

Isaac laughed quietly as he turned forward again “You have no time to watch the news, but reading unnecessary stuff about aliens is something you can’t help yourself doing, right?”

“Correct.” Stiles hoped his heart wouldn’t give him away “Priorities, gentlemen, priorities.”

After a few seconds of silence, Stiles thanked destiny none of them had noticed anything. It was hard to have a group of supernatural friends, especially when your uncle was a crime-fighting vigilante and you belonged to a secret operations team of teenagers.

But Stiles had managed thus far. Two years had gone by and none of the pack had noticed. He’d had time to accomplish his missions with the team and managed to survive all supernatural attacks. Just like last night. Why should things ever change? His two identities were safe, and they would stay that way.

Right?


	2. Alienated

“ _So, the Justice League finally provided scanners to every government on earth._ ” The British voice filled the sheriff’s office “ _To root out those filthy little aliens posing as real human beings._ ”

Not paying much attention to the small TV on the corner of his office, the sheriff continued writing his report of a break-in downtown. Many of the younger deputies were as fascinated by the alien-news as all the children were, even though it had been years since the first alien had been confirmed on earth. He, however, was too old and busy to care about alien invasions happening somewhere he would never have any connection to.

 _“But you have to wonder,”_ the man continued rambling “ _how were they able to whip up this deck so fast, or more accurately, how long have they been keeping it from us?”_

There was a knock on his opened door.

Looking up from his report, the sheriff took in his visitor and recognized her within seconds.

With a tight and nigh braid, Tara Graeme leaned on the opened door, embracing a stack of folders, pressing them against her chest.

She glanced at the TV “Strange thing, aren’t they, Sheriff?” she asked, “One day everything’s normal and the next, we’re being invaded by aliens.”

The sheriff let his pen fall “As long as they stay out of my county, they can do whatever they want.”

“Makes it hard, doesn’t it?” Tara glanced carefully at the screen “Knowing there are people capable of doing so much while there’s only so much _we_ can do?”

She wasn’t talking about the aliens anymore. At least not about all of them. The sheriff had to admit, he had a split opinion about those individuals. Whether he supported their group was hard to tell. It couldn’t be denied they had helped many, but having so many powerful individuals without any sort of regulation was something he as a sheriff rejected with every bit of his being.

The sheriff pointed at Tara’s folders “What have you got there for me?”

“Oh, right!” Tara shook her head “This month’s investigation reports. Most of them solved. Only a few burglaries still in ongoing investigation. Just for you to look over and sign off the closed ones.”

She let them on his desk and after saying goodbye, returned to her stand. Turning the TV off to get his work done as fast as possible, the sheriff dived in in the reports.

It wasn’t until a two hours later that he leaned back on his chair to relax his muscles. Glancing at his phone, he noticed he’d received a message from his son an hour ago.

**Being awesome outside for a couple of hours. Food’s in the fridge. Be home around 9.**

**-Stiles**

The sheriff briefly  looked at the clock. It was around 6 pm, he wouldn’t get home until at least 9 o’clock. Hoping his son wouldn’t be out until very late, the sheriff returned to his piles of paper.

-

At the same time, kilometres away, two teenagers walked into a empty diner while a third one waited on top of a rooftop, ready to jump into action.

The bell above the blue door rang quietly as Jaime Reyes and Karen Beecher walked into Bibbo’s Diner, pulling the hoods down the snow had forced them to wear. Bibbo, the diner’s chubby and tall owner, immediately grasped a two menus from below the counter and walked over to the newcomers.

“Sit anywhere, kids.” Bibbo offered them the menus with a smile.

Thoughtfully, his eyes landed on Karen’s tidy short hair, her dark skin, her brown eyes. On Jaimes black hair, his brown skin and his firm eyes. Eyes widening fiercely, Bibbo gasped for air in utter horror, the menus sliding off his hands.

With a single jump, he propelled himself off the ground, using the counter as support to leap into the kitchen. Metal clattered behind the small opening on the wall, pots and pans hitting against each other before falling to the ground. In less than a second, the door was kicked opened. Frantic steps, getting more silent after each second.

“ _He’s heading north_.” Mischief’s voice spoke into their ears from the coms. “ _Following the alley towards Daily Planet’s building._ ”

Karen and Jaime were already running before they replied.

“Acknowledged.” Karen spoke “Follow him from above. We’ll catch up.”

Mischief’s steps echoed from the com. “ _Roger that._ ”

Crossing the kitchen with rapid beating hearts, Karen rammed her shoulder into the door, forcing it open with a loud clang. Cold air hit them in the face as they raced across streets, following Mischief’s directions.

As they entered the dark alley protected by walls from curious glances, Karen pulled her black hood up and jumped into the air. A set of clothes floated hollowly in the air as the suit she’d been wearing beneath shrunk its owner to the size of a pen.

Bumblebee flew out of the mess of clothes, increasing her speed as her tiny wings propelled her forward.

Just like Bumblebee, Jaime’s armour spread from the scarab infused in his back, covering his entire body slowly. The black mask reached his eyes. Blue Beetle jumped off the ground, allowing his armour’s wings to carry him with accelerating speed.

They spotted the broad man in front of them in a matter of seconds. Nor did they miss the dark silhouette jumping from one rooftop to another as it followed Bibbo from above.

Breathing heavily, the persecuted headed for a two-metre-tall fence of wood. He jumped off the ground with ease, swinging over the construction with a grunt. He landed safely on the other side.

Mischief hesitated over them coms. “ _Blue, Bumblebee, can you--?_ ”

He didn’t get a chance to finish “No problema, ese.”

Bumblebee steered towards a tiny hole in the wood, buzzing through in a matter of seconds. Behind her, Blue Beetle didn’t bother. At full speed, he crashed against the wooden fence, breaking it to pieces. However, his pace didn’t slow down for a second.

Taking off from a rooftop, the cold air hitting against his skin while there was nothing beneath him, and rolling down on the next rooftop, Mischief smiled with pride at his friend’s actions.

 _“Alley connects to main street in 20 metres. Bibbo get ready.”_ Mischief’s voice announced.

Halting above the block’s last rooftop, Mischief fished two ninja-stars out of his utility belt. Not hesitating a second, he threw them down. The small devices landed a few metres in font of Bibbo. They exploded in a flash of red.

Gasping for air in utter surprise, Bibbo stumbled backwards. In panic, he glanced up, looking for the weapon’s source. A dark shadow landed right in front of him on his knees, getting up in a heartbeat.

“Running away from people is _not_ nice.” Mischief affirmed, crossing his arms.

Before Bibbo could react, pain exploded on his right cheek. Flying off his feet, Bibbo hit the alley’s pavement hard. Snow flying upward as he groaned in pain and surprise.

A man, identical to the fallen one but wearing a red jacket, cracked his knuckles.

“There’s only one Bibbo.” He announced darkly “And _don’t_ you forget it.”

Just when Bumblebee and Blue Beetle landed behind the fallen figure, the body’s eyes lost their clarity, staring into the void. The man’s stomach inflated, tearing the red T-shirt on top of it open.

Metalic petals opened from beneath the cloth, revealing a capsule inside. A tiny green creature wriggling and groaning with his hands still holding two green controllers.

Mischief’s stomach spun around.

“God, I’m _never_ getting used to that.” He muttered with disgust.

Reacting to his words immediately, the Krolotean jumped out of the broken cast, climbing up the alley’s wall to escape his persecutors. Crawling along the wall out of the heroes reach, the alien jumped back to the ground.

Having landed in front of a drainage grate, the Krolotean burst it open with all his force.

Grunting with the effort, Bumblebee zoomed closer, extending her palms towards the creature. The round energy-propellers in her gloves fired beams of yellow, aiming for the Krolotean. Screeching in fright, the creature spun around just in time for a beam to hit its shoulder.

The creature whined and stumbled backwards, falling into the drain.

In a matter of seconds, Mischief and Blue Beetle took off running. They arrived close enough to glance into the drain, only to find the alien sitting on a vehicle resembling some sort of motorcycle.

Pushing two levers forward, the vehicle’s engines roared. Fire raged form the exhaust pipes, rushing upwards. A wave of smouldering heat overwhelmed the heroes. Mischief pressed his lids against each other, turning away from the deadly heat.

It wasn’t until the crackling died out that he and his friends were able to remove their arms from their faces.

“Huh.” The real Bibbo looked at the heroes “Boy, that practically singed my eyebrows off.”

Half of his face was covered by ashes, just like Bumblebee, Mischief and Blue Beetle’s.

After looking at him, Blue Beetle’s eyes widened slightly. Trying to hide it, he forced out a smile. “Yeah, _practically_.”

Mischief’s eyes were on Bumblebee.

“Uh, you’ve got a little soot—” he muttered, pointing at half her face, her neck and her chest.

Bumblebee’s eyes darkened. Without letting him finish, she turned around to look at Blue Beetle.

“Blue, scan for it!” she commanded, her fists clenched.

Blue Beetles eyes widened “Right, right. Scanning”

His armour’s eyes glared orange. Blue Beetle stared into the opened drain and at the ground above it, being able to see through it. However, there was nothing to find.

“Sorry. Nothing.” His eyes returned to normal “He’s gone.”

Suddenly, he was looking at something in the corner of the alley. His eyes darkened, and he let his fingers fall on his forehead, waving his hand.

“ _No_ , it would _not_ have been preferable-” he crossed his arms in anger “to vaporize him back at the diner!”

Mischief, Bumblebee and Bibbo stared at him with widened eyes. Concern, fear and confusion marked all over their faces.

-

“May I ask, dear furry friend, why you haven’t said anything today?” Stiles glanced at Scott’s eyes focussed on something behind him. “Furry friend? _Wolfie_?”

None of Scott’s muscles even flinched. Standing next to his best friend’s opened locker, Scott wasn’t listening to anything Stiles had said throughout the entire morning. However, since Stiles had spent a great part of his night researching strange symbols with some sort of relation to stars, he would like his best friend to pay him at least _some_ attention.

His mission had been quite short last night, and he had only trained for two to three hours with the team afterwards, allowing him to return home sooner than usual. Nonetheless, Stiles would have felt highly flattered if Scott listened to his findings.

“I kissed Allison last night.” Stiles closed his locker.

Scott’s eyes were still frozen in place.

Leaning on his locker, Stiles crossed his arms “Dude, are you even _listening_?”

“What?” for the first time Scott’s eyes quickly brushed Stiles before returning where they’d been at before “Yeah, sure.”

Frowning, Stiles turned around to find the source of his friend’s distraction. To his surprise, there was no werewolf, no zombie and no fire-breathing creature in sight. Instead, some lockers behind them was a group of girls, talking to each other. They were too far away for Stiles to understand what they were saying.

However, it seemed like Scott was highly interested in them.

Stiles sighed and glanced at Scott “Like I said, I kissed Allison.” He continued “We went dancing. She said she hated you. You know, the usual.”

“Great.” Scott replied absently.

“Dude!” Stiles stepped in front of the group of girls “If you’re going to ignore me, _don’t_ be that obvious!”

Finally, Scott’s eyes returned to Stiles. _Really_ returned. With attention and brain.

“Sorry.” he apologized “They were just saying— Did you know we are playing against Alexander High this season?”

Stiles rose his eyebrows “That’s why you’re ignoring me?”

“Dude, they’re like Superman.” Scott remarked “I don’t know if we’ll be able to beat them. If we don’t, we might not win the trophy.”

Stiles highly doubted they were anything like Superman. In fact, he was sure they couldn’t be. He was perfectly aware of Batman keeping tracks on every individual in the country with any sort of special ability. If they resembled Superman in any way, Stiles would know.

“It might come off as a surprise,” Stiles spoke slowly “but you’re a _werewolf_. With strength. I don’t think it’ll be a problem. We’ve got other problems.”

It was hard to tell what Scott thought in that moment. The corners of his lips suggested he was amused, his frowning suggested he was confused and his eyebrows suggested he was a bit offended.

“Anyway,” Stiles continued talking without really wanting to know his friend’s emotional state “I was telling you about the symbols.”

Before he could keep explaining, he was interrupted by the bell’s shrill clinging.

As they started heading towards biology, Scott spoke up “I’ll text the pack to meet at lunch. So you can show us everything you found.”

-

“I sure hope there’s an acceptable reason why I have to seat with you two during lunch.” Jackson muttered quietly as he and Lydia sat down in front of Scott and Stiles.

The former one having his arm wrapped around Allison while he held a bottle of water with his other hand. Sitting to Allison’s right were Erica, Boyd and Isaac, the entire pack surrounding the round table.

The sun gleamed over their heads as each of them ate.

“Please, feel welcomed to leave the table.” Stiles commented, taking his sandwich into his hands “You’d do us all a favour.”

“Listen, Stillinski –"

Allison cleared her throat “Let’s focus on our priorities, okay?”

She glanced at Stiles then at Jackson. Miraculously shutting up (though not for long) Stiles nodded and took a bite off his sandwich. Jackson, on the other hand, shrugged but didn’t open his mouth to insult anyone.

Lydia’s red nails tapped against the table “What did you find yesterday in the woods?”

“What Derek told us.” Erica replied, trying to balance a fork with two fingers “Trees marked with symbols. It seemed to be some sort of language. But no idea which.”

“Maybe it’s got something to do with the fairies we’d talked about?” Isaac wondered “The little glowing thingies in the woods that everyone keeps seeing.”

Stiles quickly pulled out the notes he’d written down last night and placed them on the table.

“How are you even able to _read_ this?” Jackson wondered, taking one sheet and frowning at its content.

Stiles snapped it out od his grip “It’s called intelligence. That’s how people _usually_ learn to read.”

It was a good try, but neither one of the pack could hide very well their amusement. Allison bit her bottom lip, Scott snickered, Jackson didn’t like it.

“I’ve got a couple of theories.” Stiles continued spreading his sheets “A star has different meanings. It can mean war, humanity, journey, elements, spirituality, demon, a animal spirit in a human body, heaven and knowledge.”

“Taking into account our beautiful Beacon Hill’s tendency toward life-threatening, brutally violent things, there are three theories I could come up with.”

He pointed at the first stack of papers “The symbols could be an incantation, the form of the star a portal. According to this, the star is part of the fae culture, which would kind of explain where the glowing things are coming from. Like a portal to their realm.”

Allison frowned “But the glowing thingies have been there for months now and we would’ve noticed the portal before if that’s what it is.”

“That makes at least one thinking person around here.” Stiles pointed at her and at the second set of papers “This leads me to the second theory.”

“A start is also a symbol of a animal’s spirit trapped in a human body.” He looked at most of the people around him “Don’t know if you’ll agree but that sounds awfully familiar to _your_ condition.”

“You think it’s related to some sort of shape-shifting?” Scott asked.

Stiles nodded “Maybe this one needs a place to… meditate or stuff to shift. In any case, we should stay on the lookout for any weird animals trying to rip our throats out, and Derek doesn’t count.”

Isaac leaned forward and crossed his arms “What’s the third one?”

“Well, the star forms a pentagram. There’s always a chance of someone trying to invoke demons and bring on the demonic apocalypse.” Stiles shrugged “But the Tinkerbell one is my favourite.”

Jackson rose his eyebrows “And why does that help us?” he crossed his arms “Your theories don’t tell us what we should do right now, Stillinski.”

“You wouldn’t know where your fricking nose was if it wasn’t for me.” Stiles retorted

“Now we know what to look for.” Scott jumped into the conversation before Stiles could snap at Jackson any more “Just stay on the lookout. Fairies, shape shifter or...  _demons_.”

He spoke the last word slowly, pushing it with difficulty out of his mouth. Stiles tried not to feel offended. Demons taking over Beacon Hills _was_ a bit far-fetched, but his best friend was a werewolf. He was willing to give a demonic apocalypse the benefit of the doubt.

-

That evening, after an afternoon enjoyed with Scott and video games, Mischief found himself in a haze of yellow, arriving at Mount Justice’s main hall. The zeta tube’s female voice announcing his arrival bounced off the enormous cave’s walls. However, when he stepped out of the metal tube, there was no one there.

Most of the team was still following their normal lives. It wasn’t until late at night when all the members met up to have their missions assigned. However, there were always some that very rarely left Mount Justice. The ones that lived here.

In a few minutes, Mischief walked into the headquarter’s living room.

“Mischief, you came just in time to try my cookies!” Miss Martian smiled at Mischief from behind the counter “They’ll be ready in a couple of minutes.”

Before Mischief had a chance to reply, Lagoon walked over to the Martian’s side and wrapped his arm around her waist “Angelfish, I thought you’d made those cookies for me.”

Miss Martian turned to look at him, walking into his full embrace “I always make cookies for you, you can share them sometimes.”

Stiles rose his eyebrows. The green-skinned individuals before him reminded him of a certain inseparable couple back in Beacon Hills.

“I can’t say no to you, Angelfish.” He answered, planting a kiss on her cheek.

Silently, Mischief walked over to the counter and sat down on a chair in front of it, facing the embraced couple.

“Mischief’s _such_ a good friend, I’d _gladly_ share with him.” Mischief tried to imitate Lagoon’s tone. He returned to his normal voice “Oh, _thank you_ Lagoon, you’re also a really good friend.”

Miss Martian turned to smile at him “He’s thinking it.” she told him “He’s just not brave enough to say it.”

“Wow, Angelfish—” Lagoon intervened, pressing his green hand against his chest.

Mischief drifted out of the conversation the Martian and Atlantian were having. Superboy was sitting on the blue couch a few metres to his right, facing a turned off television, his back facing them. His back muscles were tensed, his fist clenched on the arm rest and his spine straight.

However, just when he was about to get up and ask his Kryptonian friend what was wrong, the pounding of an shrill alarm attracted his attention. Immediately opening the oven behind her with her telekinetic powers, Miss Martian removed the backing tray, letting it fall on the counter.

It was only seconds before she had put all the cookies on a plate with her mind and the plate in front of Mischief.

Lagoon immediately fished a cookie from the plate.

“Careful, they’re—” Miss Martian tried to warn him.

The cookie fell from the Atlantian’s hand. He hissed in pain, covering his mouth. A drawer opened, a glass floated to the counter and a floating pitcher filled it with water.

“—hot.” Miss Martian ended her sentence as her boyfriend drank the glass’ entire content in one sip.

Mischief smiled and leaned his elbows on the counter. Having watched Lagoon burn his tongue caused him to wait for at least a few seconds before trying his first cookie.

“How did your mission to Rann go?” he asked Miss Martian.

Before the Martian replied, frantic tiny steps echoed from behind Mischief, getting nearer each second. Turning around, Mischief spotted another green-skinned individual running towards him. Dressed in a normal shirt and pants, Beast Boy looked at Mischief with glowing eyes.

“Mischief!” he exclaimed excitedly as he sat down next to him “Check out my super cool alien souvenir!”

He raised a red band, holding it above his head like a trophy. Mischief only needed a second to recognize what it was. He remembered the Krolotean two days ago in the huge base he’d destroyed with Blue Beetle, Lagoon and Robin. It was some sort of identifier they wore across their shoulders to mark higher ranking Kroloteans.

Miss Martian smiled at her younger brother “Gar, let me explain first.”

“Noted.” Beast Boy let the red band fall on the table.

Mischief offered Beast Boy a broad grin before retuning his attention to Miss Martian. “So, what happened?”

“Our mission to neutralize the Krolotean zeta platforms on the planet Rann was a success.” She reported “Adam, the scientist that went with us, brought back specs from Rann to create a zeta shield to prevent anymore aliens from beaming to earth from off world.”

Beast Boy tapped his fingers against the counter impatiently.

Mischief frowned “Won’t that affect out own zeta beam capabilities?”

“It won’t.” Miss Martian shook her head, her short hair barely moving “The shield will activate at an altitude above the Watchtower’s orbit. League zeta tubes will still function normally.”

Finally, Beast Boy’s patience came to an end “Tell him about Rimbor! Tell him about the 16 hours.”

Surprised there was finally an answer to the question the League had been asking themselves for five years, Mischief leaned forward, wanting to hear everything.

Miss Martian’s eyes darkened “It may be easier to show you.”

Her hand fell on her temple, her lids closed for a second and when they opened, revealed two brightly shining green eyes. A flash of white appeared before Mischief’s mind. The image changed, showing him the thoughts Miss Martian had decided to share.

 _“I successfully interrogated a Krolotean general on Rann—_ ” Miss Martian spoke in his mind while an image of three Kroloteans appeared before Mischief’s mind, one of them wearing a red band.

_“—who had paid off a member of the Rannian science command to allow the Kroloteans to land a secret base in the Rannian jungle."_

The image changed with another flash. The same Krolotean general was letting coins fall on a elvish-like being. A Rannian, Mischief supposed since Miss Martian and her team had visited said planet.

“ _Once there, the Kroloteans stole zeta platform technology from Adam Strange’s friend Sardath. They landed another ship in New Orleans and used the zeta platforms to beam a few hundred Kroloteans to Earth. “_

A spaceship appeared. Mischief recognized this one. It was the one Robin, Blue Beetle, Lagoon and he had paid a visit.

_“They built more platforms, brought in more Kroloteans, and began abducting and replacing humans, --”_

The last image was the one of the many platforms Mischief had seen himself during one of his lasts missions. The inside of the subterranean base they had destroyed.

The images disappeared from Mischief’s mind. Miss Martian was still standing in front of him, her eyes back to their normal hazel colour.

“—perhaps as part of an invasion strategy,” she supposed and shrugged “though that’s still unclear.”

Mischief nodded, taking all the information in. However, there was something missing. The puzzle in his mind was far from completed.

“Why earth?” he asked Miss Martian frowning “And what does that have to do with the missing 16 hours?”

Her eyes flashed green once more and everything disappeared again before Mischief’s eyes.

“ _Well, as you know 5 years ago Vandal Savage placed the entire League under his control_.”

Vandal Savage’s scarred face grinned maliciously at Mischief. He was standing inside one of the Watchtower’s zeta tubes, the League’s most secure headquarters. Only very few were ever allowed to go in there, Mischief not being one of the lucky ones. Nonetheless, the League’s enemy Vandal Savage had managed to stride in utterly calm due to the entire League’s minds subdued to his commands.

“ _6 Leaguers – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and Hawk Woman – went missing for a full of 16 hours.”_

There was Superman and Batman’s red and black cape. Martina Manhunter’s green skin. Green Lantern’s green suit. Wonder Woman’s golden bracelets and Hawk Woman’s feathered wings.

_“It turns out they were teleported to a planet called Rimbor where they spent 16 hours on a rampage, attacking everyone and everything in sight and announcing in several alien languages that they were the Justice League from earth and that the rest of the galaxy should beware.”_

Superman’s heat vison was destroying a house. Wonder Woman’s fist crumbling a statue. Hawk Woman’s cub about to crash a villager’s side. Batman kicking a blue-skinned alien in the face.

“That’s why the Kroloteans came.” She ended her explaining and broke off the psychic contact “The League itself brought earth to their attention.”

Mischief stared at her wide-eyed “My God, that’s horrible.”

“Which is why the entire League are wanted criminals all around the galaxy.” Beast Boy continued “And none of them even remember.”

“What will the League be doing about it?” Mischief asked Miss Martian, even though he knew she probably didn’t know the answer “We hunted the Kroloteans that had been masquerading as humans, but all have escaped capture.”

Miss Martian nodded and smiled “Batman already reported. I also interrogated the Krolotean you, Blue, Robin and Lagoon captured two days ago. The Kroloteans have an emergency rendezvous point and have standing orders in case of discovery to evacuate there. The base inside a volcano on Malina Island.”

-

Meanwhile near Malina Island, a spaceship submerged under water, finding its way to a subterranean harbour. As the ship rose above the surface, it entered a tall cave heavily populated by green creatures with sharp bones and black uniformed soldiers carrying weapons.

After the Kroloteans that had managed to escape the League and team’s attempt to capture them abandoned the ship, the spaceship’s pilot leaned back on his seat, awaiting his father’s message through the television.

It was a matter of seconds until the monitor woke into life. Suited in black uniform while his face was covered by a black and grey helmet with only two red slits where his eyes were, the image before him was dressed exactly like the pilot.

“We have arrived with the final shipment of Kroloteans.” The pilot reported, his voice distorted by his helmet.

With a identical voice, the image replied “Congratulations, my son.”

The pilot pulled the helmet out of his head, revealing a young man with dark skin and white hair.

“Thank you, father.” Kaldur’s eyes were as firm as rock with determination “Initiating phase two.”

-

“Remember, this is primarily a recon mission.” Batman told his protégés without turning around.

 His eyes were set on the blue waves rushing past them as the bioship headed for Malina Island.

“We want to discover all we can about the Kroloteans’ invasion strategy before we shut them down and deliver them to the Green Lantern Corps.”

On the pilot’s seat, Nightwing steered the ship silently. Robin, Batgirl and Mischief remained seated around the ship’s cockpit, neither saying a word as the stars brushed past them through the windows.

After some minutes, Nightwing’s voice interrupted the silence.

“Approaching drop zone beta.”

Standing on the ship’s loading bay, Aquaman and Lagoon looked at each other. The Atlantian King’s eyes were firm as he nodded at his companion.

The bioship formed a hole in front of them, stretching out to a perfect size due to the living organic material it was made off. The ocean’s salty breeze hit the beta squad. However, none of them were bothered. The following second, Aquaman jumped into the hole, disappearing into the darkness of the water. Lagoon followed his example.

Immediately, the hole closed on its own, erasing every bit of evidence of anyone ever jumping out.

The bioship continued its path, leaving the water behind and flying above land. The volcano grew bigger after each second.

Nightwing spoke again.

“Drop zone gamma.”

-

Four guards stood firmly before a bronze gate, resting their enhanced weapons on their hands and chests. Their faces were covered by black helmets with red glass in front of their faces. Their entire body was covered by black leather. They all looked alike. While four of the figures remained on their post, the fifth one stepped towards the pile of rocks to his left, seeking any sort of trouble.

As silent as a bat’s wings, four silhouettes landed behind the four guards.

The helmeted soldiers didn’t even perceive the movement behind them. In the blink of an eye, fists and elbows rushed up, sending the guards into oblivion. The weapons slid off their numb arms, clattering while the soldiers fell into heaps.

A few metres away, the fifth guard spun around. However, the only thing he saw before darkness took over him, was a caped silhouette, a dark hood, and pointy ears.

Then, there was a black fist. Glass shattered. The soldier groaned and was overcome by darkness.

 -

Inside the volcano, two Kroloteans were watching over the construction, their eyes set on the small robots building a new oval-shaped spaceship. Metallic bridges surrounded the caves’ walls, some crossing the area and looming over the ground.

Metal clattered, engines roared, and steps echoed. Kroloteans boarded their eight-legged robots to help, others packed things into boxes, others typed into keyboards and screens.

 _“Earth could have been so profitable…_ ” one of the supervisors spoke.

To his side, the other Krolotean replied in the same language “ _If earthlings had not discovered us.”_

 _“The earthlings?”_ the first one asked incredulous _“This is the work of the competitor.”_

His companion screeched in fury _“You cannot know the competitor is on this world!”_

 _“Who else hired the main man to expose us?!”_ the first one screeched in deeper anger _“And last night I was attacked by a competitor warrior.”_

_-_

“All sectors report status.” Kaldur spoke into the radio before him, sitting inside his spaceship.

Firm voices immediately replied.

“Sector one secured.”

“Sector two secure.”

There was a pause.

“Sector four secure.”

Kaldur’s brows furrowed “Sector three, report status.”

He leaned backwards.

Silence.

“Sector three, _report_!” his voice grew louder.

Silence.

Shaking his head, Kaldur grasped his helmet from the co-pilot’s seat und turned the radio off. He was met with the whirling of tools when he stepped outside.

Slowly, he walked around the centre-platform, eyeing his surroundings through the red glass of his helmet. It took him seconds to find what he was looking for.

“ _Intruders, upper level_.” He announced through his com. “ _And in the water.”_

In a single swift motion, he spun around towards the water, activating his helmet. Water splashed through the cave as high-energy beams burst out of the helmet’s slits, hitting the two shadows hidden beneath the water.

With that, chaos exploded inside the cave. Red laser-beams heated their way across every inch of it, aiming at the heroes whose cover had been blown.

-

“There!” a soldier shouted, pointing at a dark silhouette hiding behind a bridge’s metal railing.

Within the next seconds, Mischief was forced to jump over the bridge’s railing, using the cave’s rocky wall as support to arrive at the bridge below. The metal where he had stood exploded in heat as red laser-beams failed to hit him.

He landed with a roll, beams of energy zipping over his head. Ducking as much as he could, Mischief reached to fish ninja-starts from his utility belt.

It turned out unnecessary. A dark shadow landed behind on one of the soldiers, bringing him down with a grunt. With a circular kick, the second soldier was propelled off the bridge, screaming his way through the fall.

In a swift motion, a batarang flew off the Dark Knight’s hand, flashing towards something behind Mischief. Just in time, Mischief rolled away from the explosion. More soldiers screamed when the bridges surface disappeared, making them head directly for the water metres below.

Batman’s eyes landed on Mischief for a moment. With a quick nod, he jumped upward, going for his next target.

Steps echoed from Batman’s right, soldiers approaching with heavy weapons in their hands. Calculating his situation within seconds, Batman swung his hand back with another batarang. The device hit the first of them right in the chest, sending him to the ground with a groan.

Jumping into action from a door to the second soldier’s right, Batgirl hit the guard in the face, catapulting him towards oblivion. Nightwing arrived within the next second over the railing, kicking the gun off the third soldier’s hands. Within seconds, all three of them were nothing more than heaps on the ground.

-

On a bridge further right, Robin spotted two running guards, their weapons hissing as they aimed for Mischief’s struggling figure below. Pulling his stick from his back, the Boy Wonder left his cover behind a rock. The first soldier fell with a swift swing. The next second, electricity sprouted from Robin’s stick, making the second soldier’s eyes roll back in his head.

-

Heavy sizzles exploded a few metres above water as more soldiers aimed at the water, hitting its surface with red beams loaded with energy.

Water spluttered upwards as Aquaman and Lagoon leapt out of their cover, breaking out of the water’s surface. A guard fell to the ground with a punch, the other one with Lagoon’s legs landing on his chest.

The Kroloteans around the ship stared in horror at their fallen protectors, stepping backwards. It only took a single command and the eight-legged robots building their spaceship turned into fighting machines, shooting and stepping on the Atlantians.

-

With glowing tattoos, Lagoon crushed a machine under his fists. Mischief hit a guard in the face before kicking another soldier in the gut. Batman threw an explosive batarang at a bridge, destroying the surface five soldiers had been standing on. Nightwing threw Batgirl upwards towards the nearest bridge. Batgirl used the impulse to hit two guards in the face. Robin’s stick fizzled as he sent guards flying off the bridges with heavy groans.

-

A fallen soldier landed with a heavy thud before Kaldur. He didn’t move. With his face still covered, Kaldur assessed the situation, taking in his soldiers falling by the hands of the League.

“Manta to partner.” He informed through his communication device “The base has been infiltrated. Abort operation.”

A deep voice immediately answered. “ _Partner to Manta. The device is already primed. You have five minutes. Get your men out. The bomb will take care of the rest.”_

“Perfect”

-

“Nightwing to delta squad.” Nightwing reported through his com. as he observed soldiers board the spaceship floating in the subterranean harbour “Enemy is attempting escape. Request backup.”

In a matter of seconds, the cave’s wall exploded with a glare of red, sending rocks flying through the air and crushing one of the robotic spiders. Carrying Superboy, Superman entered through the hole he’d made, closely followed by Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl.

Aquaman’s eye landed on the robotic spider crushed beneath the rock. “Nice aim.”

“X-Ray vision.” Superman landed before him “I cheat.”

To his right, Superboy pointed at three robotic spiders flying above the ground. “Superman, triple combo over here.”

Without a word, Superman swung Superboy in a circle, cutting the air before letting him go. At full speed, Superboy crashed against a spider, making it blast up in seconds. Continuing to fall on the closest spider, Superboy made the other creature live through the same heated future as its companion. With a last grunt, a third spider joined the group.

Superboy rolled to the ground, landing right in front of another robotic spider. With a final punch and scream, the fourth spider flew off its feet into the wall.

“Quadruple. _Nice_.” Superman floated above Superboy.

Standing on a bridge nearby, a guard unconscious at his feet, Mischief rolled his eyes. “ _Show off.”_

-

To the other side of the cave, Wonder Woman swung her lasso over her head. The moment she swung it down, the rope closed around a spider’s body. Tearing her muscles with the enormous effort, Wonder Woman lifted the creature off the ground, sending it crashing against a wall in a fiery explosion.

Wonder Girl landed by her side. “That was _amazing_!”

“You just—You just _poosh_ ,” she fiddled with the lasso hanging from her belt “And then—and then—and then _bang_.”

Jumping in front of her, Wonder Woman raised her arms. The fizzling beams of energy bounced off her metallic bracelets, saving Wonder Girl from being fried.

“Little less fangirl,” Wonder Woman briefly glanced at her protégé “Little more Wonder Girl.”

“Right. Sorry.” Wonder Girl blushed.

She jumped from the ground, swinging her lasso over her head.

In one swift motion, the rope closed around a spider’s head. Pulling with all her strength, Wonder Girl ripped it off the creature’s body, redirecting it towards a second spider. Crushed by the head’s weight, the second spider died in a heated explosion.

A smile of pride brushed Wonder Woman’s lips.

-

“3 minutes to departure.” Kaldur informed his men as he retreated.

Grunts and screams attracted his attention from above. With inflated muscles, Lagoon rushed towards him, clearing everything in his path. Kaldur only had time to widen his eyes before a fist at full speed hit his face.

Falling backwards in pain, Kaldur couldn’t help the helmet flying off his head.

Standing on the bridge above Kaldur, a punch of steal hit Mischief’s heart when he recognized the face beneath.

Before his mind had time to understand what his muscles were doing, he jumped over the railing. His heart was pounding in his chest when he landed between Aquaman and Kaldur.

He looked at Kaldur with pain in his eyes “Kaldur, how could you?”

The Atlantian in front of him only stared with darkness in his eyes.

Behind Mischief, Aquaman stared at his former protégé wide-eyed “I had not believed Nightwing until this moment.”

The darkness in Kaldur’s features turned into flat-out fury “You did not _want_ to believe!”

“ _None_ of us wanted to believe this!” Superboy arrived at Mischief’s side “How could you betray us?”

Kaldur pulled the handles of his swords from his belt, anger hidden in every harsh movement. His magic immediately formed the water around him into the weapon’s glowing blades.

“You _dare_ question _me_?” His angry voice was nothing but a scream “After _all_ of you let Tula _die!_?”

Mischief’s heart couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was Kaldur. Kaldur was drowned in fury before him. Kaldur was digging his eyes into theirs, leaving nothing but hatred in its wake.

“Kaldur, that was a _mission_.” Nightwing landed in front of Mischief “Aquagirl knew the risks. No one wanted her to—”

Lagoon scoffed behind Aquaman “Neptune’s beard!” he stepped forward “Don’t coddle this traitor. He has joined forces with our King’s greatest enemy.”

“Do you mean the king that hid from me the true identity of my father?” Kaldur spat, loathing dripping from every muscle in his body.

“That was _my_ error in judgment, Kaldur ‘Ahm.” Aquaman immediately answered “No one else needs suffer for it.”

“ _All_ will suffer if Black Manta demands it.” Kaldur retorted.

Mischief stared at his former friend “Kaldur, please, don’t do this.”

Kaldur’s eyes brushed Mischief’s silhouette before returning to Aquaman. Mischief tried to push away the punch in his chest at utterly being ignored.

“Blood is thicker than seawater.”

Something moved above Kaldur’s shoulder, a small rocket appeared above his uniform. Within the next second, the red explosive headed at the group of heroes. None of them being able to react fast enough.

Before the device could explode, Superman landed right in front of it. Crashing against his chest, the metal exploded, drowning the entire cave with thick smoke.

When the grey smoke cleared, only Superman, Lagoon and Aquaman remained where they’d been standing a second ago.

-

Kaldur slid down a secret tunnel with his glowing swords in hands, entering a hidden chamber underneath the cave. The rising and falling of water spluttered to his right, showing him his way towards the ocean.

“Kaldur.” Mischief’s voice echoed from the tunnel. He landed in the secret chamber “Whatever you think—”

His former friend’s eyes only stayed on him for a second, before turning around to look at an approaching set of steps.

Nightwing stepped from the dark. Kaldur’s eyes darkened.

“You and me again, old friend.” He spat raising his blades.

Again, Mischief’s heart shrunk in his chest after not being even acknowledged.

“No!” Superboy’s voice neared from behind Mischief. He landed to his right “It’s a regular reunion special.”

Relaxing his fighting stance, Kaldur’s blades turned into normal water, splashing on the ground.

“Fine, you can take me down.” He said slowly. He turned to look at an oval device with a red light beeping in its middle “Or you can save everyone from this bomb.”

Nightwing’s eyes widened.

“I am told the yield is _quite_ impressive.” Kaldur smiled darkly.

Screaming in frustration Superboy rushed forward, extending his arms to bring Kaldur down. Mischief watched in horror as Kaldur hit him in the neck and the face. Superboy fell to the ground with a grunt. Before he could attempt to move, Kaldur’s hand closed around his neck, electricity fizzling from his glove.

Mischief’s eyes widened as Superboy screamed “Kaldur! Stop!”

The Atlantian looked up at Nightwing “You’ve got two minutes.”

Losing his grip on Superboy’s neck, Kaldur jumped on his feet. Without looking at his former friends, he rushed to shore, jumping into the water and disappearing.

-

Above them, Wonder Girl and Lagoon spotted Black Manta’s spaceship taking off from the harbour.

Wonder Girl’s legs were moving before she knew “They’re getting away!”

“We’ll stop them.” Laggon arrived at her side.

“ _Negative_.” Nightwing’s voice cut through the communicators “ _We have a bomb down here. Alien tech. I cannot disarm it.”_

Superboy’s voice immediately replied _“I’ll get it out.”_

“ _No_.” Nightwing’s voice cut yet again through the communicators “ _It might have pressure or motion sensors. All squads evacuate the bioship **now**.”_

-

Batman turned to look at his two protégés fighting by his side “You heard Nightwing. _Move_!”

Following his orders, Batgirl and Robin spun around, heading for the closest entrance they could find. Leaving the shooting spiders behind, Batman closely followed.

The moment they stepped into open air, the bioship landed before them, its camouflage dissolving to reveal the red oval-shaped sentient spaceship.

As the load bay opened, Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl landed in front of it, carrying Lagoon and Aquaman. At the same time, Batman, Robin, Batgirl and the four new arrivals boarded the ship.

“Neptune’s beard.” Lagoon’s eyes widened when he spotted who (or much rather what) was sitting on the pilot’s seat.

Two Kroloteans stared at the arriving heroes with wide eyes, surprise written all over their face.

“ _Hello_ , Megan.” One Krolotean facepalmed. Slowly the Krolotean shifted back into Miss Martian “ _Knew_ we forgot _something_.”

In front of her, Martian Manhunter did exactly the same, shape-shifting into his real body. The green, blue-caped Martian handed Batman the information-drive they had stolen while the fight had been going on.

“Well done, alpha squad.” Batman observed the drive in his hands.

Mischief, Superboy and Nightwing ran into the bioship.

“Find a seat. It’s time to go.” Miss Martian announced from the pilot’s seat.

-

The bioship raced at full speed away from the island. Behind them, light burst outward, incinerating everything in its path. The heavy blast shook everything in its wake. It was only a matter of seconds until the immense force hit the bioship.

Superboy and Aquaman tried to hold on to the walls and not loose the ground under their feet. Unsuccessfully. Their heads crashed against the ship’s metallic walls. Mischief, Wonder Girl, Nightwing and everyone present were pressed against their seats by an immense force. Grunting filled the air. Miss Martian’s eyes became slits with concentration, her hands tightly closed around the controllers.

“Come on, old girl!” She spoke into the psychic link, encouraging her ship to stand through.

After what felt like a painful eternity, the bioship won height, leaving the ball of light behind. Red smoke rose to the sky, the entirety of the island incinerated.

“What just happened?” Wonder Girl asked aloud once the explosion was far behind them.

“The Kroloteans were clearly trying to build a new ship.” Miss Martian immediately answered.

Lagoon stared at the sky behind the window. “They had to, Angelfish. It was the only way to leave earth without their zeta platforms or their original ship.”

“But was Aqualad helping them escape,” Mischief frowned “or luring them into a trap?”

“The bomb was of alien origin.” Nightwing immediately answered turning to look at Batman “Yet the Kroloteans clearly knew nothing about it. So where did it come from?”

Batman stared at the ocean before him “I have the feeling it may be up to you and your team to find out.”

-

Stiles couldn’t bring himself to care about Mr. Harris’ blabbering. Drawing little circles on his block instead of molecular structures, Stiles’ mind kept drifting off to the events that had happened the previous night.

The Kroloteans’ ship, the bomb they knew nothing about and Black Manta’s involvement didn’t matter to him. He was sure the team and the League would solve all those mysteries given enough time.

The image he couldn’t get out of his head was Kaldur, standing ready to cut them open with his blue swords, ignoring every word he said, electrocuting Superboy. There was no way his mind could conceive how the Kaldur he’d known had turned into that Kaldur so quickly. How Aqualad had died inside him and Kaldur had decided to follow into his father’s footsteps.

Harrison explained the difference between alkenes and alkanes, Stiles didn’t bother to listen. The circles on his block turned into dots as he filled them up with his pencil.

As another dot appeared, Stiles mind drifted off, taking him to the moment in his past he couldn’t believe Kaldur had forgotten.

_Like the year before, Mischief was sitting on a rock outside of Mount Justice. The ocean’s cold breeze brushed his face as he stared into the sunset, dangling his feet thoughtfully. He couldn’t sit still very often, but today wasn’t any normal day. Today was the fifth anniversary._

_His mother had died five years ago._

_He’d tried spending time with his friends, but it had just felt off. Today wasn’t a day to be happy. Neither Mischief nor Stiles could be happy._

_Tearing the thirteen-year-old out of his thoughts, something suddenly pushed his back forward. Taken by surprise, Mischief fell from his rock, landing with a roll. Adrenaline immediately flashed through his veins. Quickly getting on his feet, Mischief turned around to look at the figure responsible for his fall._

_Aqualad was staring at him wide-eyed. “I didn’t mean too…”_

_Mischief’s muscles relaxed. Letting his hands fall to his sides, he realized what had happened._

_“How did you…?” Aqualad asked without recovering “I didn’t—I didn’t **see** you.”_

_Jumping with all his strength, Mischief managed to get hold of the rock’s edge, pulling himself up and sitting down again. Aqualad’s legs to his right._

_“I do that sometimes.” Mischief explained “I—I can make people not see me when I want to be alone.”_

_“You’ve got abilities.” Aqualad sat down by his side._

_Mischief shrugged “I guess.” He muttered “I can’t control them, though. They just happen sometimes.”_

_The newest member of the team was thankful that Aqualad stayed quiet. Only his uncle and Nightwing knew about his small incidents, he wasn’t eager to share them with anyone else, much less the team’s leader._

_“So, you want to be alone?” Aqualad asked after at least a full minute had passed._

_Mischief shrugged._

_“I also came here to be alone.” Aqualad commented, staring into the ocean “This ocean, it reminds me of my home. Atlantis. I miss it sometimes.”_

_Mischief looked down at his dangling feet. He missed his home sometimes too._

_“Don’t you visit your home?” he found himself asking without a real reason “Or haven’t you thought about returning?”_

_“I did once.” Aqualad answered, quickly glancing at the boy before looking back at the ocean “Couple of months after we founded the team. I wanted to go back. Meet my friends. Be with Tula.”_

_“Who’s she?”_

_Aqualad sighed heavily “The love of my life.”_

_“Why didn’t you stay with her?” Mischief wondered out loud._

_“I was going to return and ask her to be with me.” Aqualad continued explaining “When I did, it turned out her life had continued while I was away. She had started dating my best friend while I was on land helping Aquaman.”_

_Mischief stared at him speechless “Touché.”_

_Aqualad shrugged “She’s happy, that’s all that matters.”_

_Again, neither Mischief nor Aqualad spoke for a couple of minutes. They sat together on the rock, hearing the waves crash against the shore, feeling the cold breeze on their skin, seeing the sun’s violet gleam over the water._

_“I miss my home too sometimes.” Mischief said quietly, pulling his legs up and wrapping his arms around his knees._

_Aqualad turned to look at him “Haven’t you thought of visiting?”_

_“I don’t know.” Mischief admitted “It wasn’t a nice place when I left. I don’t know if it has changed.”_

_Aqualad nodded. “I know how that feels.”_

_Mischief stared at the waves. However, Aqualad wasn’t thinking of keeping the silence._

_“So, what **can** you do?”_

_Mischief frowned “What do you mean?”_

_“Your abilities.” Aqualad specified “What are they?”_

_“Oh.” Mischief let his legs dangle off again “I can—I can make people see what I want them to see. It’s like—like creating illusions.”_

_Aqualad rose his eyebrows “That could be really useful in missions. Why haven’t you trained it?”_

_“I’ve seen what powers can do to people.” Mischief hesitated “They can… corrupt. Like Killer Frost, Poison Ivy or Doctor Freeze. I don’t want to turn out like that.”_

_“Do you think Kid Flash, Superboy and Miss Martian would ever turn into something like that?” Aqualad asked._

_“Of course not!” Mischief was quick to reply._

_“Then why should **you**?”_

_That was one of the few times Mischief truly didn’t know what to say._

_Aquald jumped from the boulder, landing silently on the sand. “Show me what you’ve got. I’ll help you train.”_

_Mischief hesitated for a moment when Aqualad offered his open palm to him. None of his family had superpowers, he didn’t know how to cope with them. He had never tried. Never thought of trying._

_But Aqualad was familiar with magic. Atlantian magic. If there were only few people qualified to help Mischief, Aqualad would most definitely be one of them._

_Taking Aquald’s hand, Mischief jumped from his rock. For the first time, ready to find out what he could do._

_-_

“Dude, you look like shit today.” Scott quickly glanced at his best friend.

Stiles smiled coldly at him “Thank you, Scott. You _really_ know how to cheer someone up.”

Standing to Scott’s left, Erica rose her eyebrows “You really _do_ look weird today.”

“Well, _excuse me_ , not all of us can be hot-smoking werewolves over here.” Stiles sat down on the steps leading to the manors veranda. The ancient wood cracked under his weight.

Jackson leaned on the wooden railing of the same veranda “He’s right, you know.”

“I _swear_ to—” Stiles’ eyes became slits.

A few metres in front of Scott, very near to the tree line, Derek turned to look at his pack “Are those two like that all the time?”

“Yep.” Isaac nodded “Jackson is a jackass. Stillinski doesn’t shut up.”

Before Stiles could reply anything to defend himself, Allison frowned at Derek “Shouldn’t they have arrived yet?”

Derek shrugged “It wouldn’t be the first time a pack would come late.”

After training, the pack had walked over to Hale Manor, the place the voyaging pack had decided to pay a visit. They’d contacted Derek the former day, asking whether his pack could meet them in front of the manor. Thus, Scott, Stiles, Derek, Jackson, Erica, Boyd, Isaac and Allison where now waiting before the burnt down household.

They’d been waiting now for 20 minutes, Stiles, Isaac and Allison had already given up standing, sitting down on the steps leading to the house. Lydia had openly admitted she didn’t have time to wait for some werewolves to come and say hello. Besides, she had said, her nails wouldn’t take care of themselves.

Bushes stirred before them as a silhouette made its way through the forest’s landscape. The entire pack fell silent and leaned forward as leaves rustled and branches cracked before them. Scott quickly glanced at Stiles who rose his eyebrows in excitement.

A long-haired, tall man stepped from the trees’ shadows. The moment his eyes landed on the group of teenagers and their alpha, he spread his arms. His black hair swung backwards while his leather jacket opened to expose a white shirt.

“Alpha Hale!” the newcomer announced, “Such a pleasure to meet you!”

Derek’s reaction wasn’t as warm “Alpha Rodriguez, I assume?”

The tall man smiled “In the flesh.”

More leaves rustled behind Rodriguez. Soon, a young woman with long dreadlocks appeared behind him, her dark skin contrasting her white blouse and pants. A smaller silhouette jumped into the light, closely followed by a fourth one.

The first one belonged to a girl about Stiles’ age. Her black, spongy hair bounced up and down as she stepped closer. By her side was a slightly younger boy, his chocolate skin and spongy hair identical to the girl’s.

Finally, another man stepped forward. Contrasting his pack’s companions, his skin was as pale as snow while his beard and hair as dark as ink.

“I assume this is your pack?” Derek asked, eying the newcomers with a slight frown on his face.

Alpha Rodriguez didn’t notice the distrust “Yeah, yeah.” He pointed at the woman wearing white by his side “This is Amanda, my wife.”

Amanda raised her palm and waved “Hi.”

“This are my niece and nephew, George and Alice.” He pointed at the two teenagers. His eyes fell on the last man “This is my cousin John. And please, call me Miguel.”

During the following minutes, Derek proceeded to introduce himself as Derek, the pack’s alpha. Pointing at each member one after another, he introduced every single one of the present teenagers. While they were being named, said teenagers smiled and waved. All but Jackson who limited himself to nod absently.

When they were done, Miguel frowned slightly “You’ve got two humans in your pack?”

His eyes landed on Stiles, then jumped to Allison.

“Yes,” Derek crossed his arms “Have a problem with that?”

It would’ve been a lie to say Stiles’ heart stayed completely silent at Derek’s protectiveness.

Miguel grinned “‘Course not!” he immediately replied, spreading his arms again “I love humans, they keep things interesting.”

Stiles frowned. “Thanks?”

Amanda stepped towards the house, her eyes inspecting every inch of the destroyed wood. “So, this is what is left of the great Hale household?”

Derek’s fists clenched “We’re planning on rebuilding it.”

“We are?” Stiles wondered aloud.

Derek’s alpha eyes dug their way into Stiles’, sending a shiver down his spine.

“We are.” He affirmed and coughed “We are.”

John joined Amanda’s side “This hunter-filled world can’t function like this anymore, things have to change.”

Allison glanced insecurely at Derek and at Scott. It didn’t take a second and Scott’s hand was already around hers, squeezing it with affection.

“They’ve left us alone until now, we aren’t looking for trouble.” Isaac commented, still sitting to Stiles’ left.

Miguel shook his head “Things are changing here.”

“You’ll figure it out soon enough.” Amanda and John exchanged a glance.

The instinct Batman had made him develop and train for years, rang an alarm inside Stiles’ mind. It screamed at him something wasn’t quite right, there was something off about these revolutionary wolves.

Thinking the same as Stiles, Derek cleared his throat “I understand you are leaving Beacon Hills tomorrow morning?”

Miguel turned to look at Derek with a broad smile, he wrapped his arm around the other alpha’s shoulders. “That was the original plan, pal.”

“But we decided we’d like to know a bit about this pack, you know, since rumour is out you have done some real badass things.” Alice smiled at Derek.

Derek frowned in confusion. The entire pack did, in fact. They hadn’t expected to have to take care of a second pack during at least the following months.

“I thought you’d said—” Scott spoke slowly.

Amanda smiled warmly at him “We know what my husband said but we’ve decided to stay a couple of days. See if our packs can get to know each other better. Make allies.”

Glances jumped around the pack. None of them spoke a word, but their confused eyes and frowns were enough to communicate the message. They were all thinking the same thing.

“Only if you are okay with it.” Miguel smiled at Derek “We wouldn’t want to intrude or anything.”

Derek took in a deep breath, sliding his hands in his pockets. “As long as you don’t cause any trouble, you are welcomed to stay.”

“Great!” Miguel walked over to Scott, wrapping his arm around his shoulder “Now, tell me. Is it true what they say about you? Dating a hunter?”

Confused, Scott hesitated “Uhm…”

Amanda smiled at her husband and the young werewolf by his side. “You can tell us later, we can meet and train together, learn a few things from each other.”

“Uhm…” Scott didn’t know what to say “…Sure?”

“Great!” Miguel clapped Scott’s shoulder “It’s settled. I’m looking forward to it!”

It was just for a second, but Stiles’ eyes brushed Derek’s figure. The alpha stared at Miguel crossed armed, eyes filled with suspicion and distrust. However, the darkness in his eyes only remained there for a second before his face turned back into a stone, not revealing a single thing.

Miguel’s eyes landed on Stiles and Allison “And you two! You’ll be coming with, right? Also learn a few things?”

Stiles heart jumped in his chest. He had hidden his abilities for years now, he couldn’t take a chance of ruining it with a single training session.

“I don’t think we are quite up your speed…" he replied slowly, seeing Allison shake her head out of the corner of his eye.

“Well, your werewolf-friend won’t always be there to protect you.” He shook Scott, dangling the young werewolf in his strong grip “The only way you’ll learn is training.”

Not knowing what to reply, Stiles pushed out a smile. He hoped the pack wouldn’t think anything about his throbbing heart. He hoped they wouldn’t notice anything if he decided to train with them. He hoped he would quickly come up with an excuse.

-

Somewhere else, in the middle of the ocean, a door opened inside a submarine, clearing Kaldur’s way. The fire burning inside the traditional masks on the brown upholstered wall being the only light illuminating the dining hall as he entered his father’s view.

“Father.” Kaldur greeted the moment he entered the room.

Sitting in front of the table, with a filled plate and a glass of wine to his left, Black Manta looked up.

“Congratulations, son. You did well.” He stuck his fork on a piece of flesh “I don’t suppose Aquaman died in the explosion?”

Kaldur’s face was made of stone “Unlikely.”

Black Manta sighed. “Pity.”

After he had thrown his napkin on the table, an alarm started dinging to his right. Getting on his feet, the older Atlantian took one last sip from his glass.

“If you’ll excuse me.”

Leaving his son behind, Black Manta removed his helmet from a bust and put it on. Another door closed behind him when he entered the barely illuminated conference room.

The only source of light in the room, a big screen, flickered as seven images appeared one after another, transmitting life-images.

A dark-haired boy with horns, a machine with only a brain, a golden crowned dictator, a bald ruthless businessman, a cloaked assassin, a blonde hunter with a scar and an immortal with three long scars across his face.

“Good morning, Black Manta.” The immortal, Vandal Savage, spoke “The Kroloteans’ competitor, our new partner, is quite pleased with your efforts, and so is the Light.”

His eyes were firm “All agree we made the right choice asking you to replace poor, disgraced Ocean Master." He smiled. "You are officially one with the Light.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked the chapter! If you did, please let me know or if you've got anything to say, I'd be really glad to hear it. I appreciate every help I can get to improve my writing!
> 
> Thank you also a lot to those who left Kudos! :D  
> Have a nice day!
> 
> (Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.)  
> Melpomene :D


	3. Salvage

His back crashed against the ground, soft grass turning into rock within seconds. Every bit of air was knocked out of Stiles’ lungs, his back radiating pain. Not making a single attempt to move, the teenager pressed his eyes shut.

“Come on, is that everything you’ve got?” Alice loamed over him, trying to hide her smirk.

It was hard, but Stiles managed to keep his mouth shut. He managed stop the sentence that had been burning on his tongue for the last couple of minutes.

_I could take you down within seconds._

For Mischief had fought against stronger and faster than Alice and her pack. Mischief had learned to jump out of a Kryptonian’s range, to anticipate a speedster’s move, to swing instead of fly, to think of a strategy and bring his opponent down.

But Mischief wasn’t supposed to be in the clearing right now.

Stiles was only human. Stiles couldn’t know how to defend himself. Stiles could only clench his teeth and get through with this, without fighting back.

“Stiles?” Scott asked, sitting a few metres to his left “You okay, dude?”

It took a moment for Stiles to have enough air to reply.

“Yeah.” He opened his eyes and closed them again immediately when the sun’s hit his eyes “Just… give me a moment… or a few years.... A few years sound perfect, actually.”

Alice swung her hair over her shoulder and extended her opened palm “Surprisingly, you lasted longer.”

Against his will, Stiles let himself be pulled back on his feet. The trees around him moved in circles and black dots blurred his vision for a second. After what felt like an eternity, the world cleared, allowing Stiles to take his surroundings in.

The blue-jacketed werewolf was right where she had been seconds ago, grinning with satisfaction in her eyes. Standing in a circle around them were Scott, George, Erica and Isaac. Contrary to Stiles, Jackson and Allison had been smart enough to come up with an excuse, freeing themselves of this torture.

Which, Stiles had to admit, wasn’t particularly easy. Saying it would help to get to know each other better, Alice and George had started attending Beacon High. Every second of it, they spent following either Scott or Isaac around. Being always by Scott’s side, it had been impossible for Stiles to talk himself out of this.

Further back, observing everything with crossed arms, Derek stood as firm as a rock. Miguel would try to warm him up, occasionally commenting on the two sparring (in Stiles’ case struggling) persons inside the imaginary circle.

Finally, Boyd and Amanda were sitting metres away next to the drinks and snacks both packs had brought to enjoy.

“Want to give it another try?” Alice smiled, her chest popped-up.

For a moment, Stiles just wanted to punch that smile out of her face.

Scott cleared his throat “I think he shouldn’t…”

Miguel was next to Scott within seconds, wrapping his arm around his shoulders and shaking him a little harsher than necessary.

“Come on, give him another try.” He pointed at Stiles with his other arm “He’s learning!”

None of the pack could even conceive how this was called _learning_. It might have been appropriate to call it _training_ when talking about werewolves. But for Stiles, the only way he could only think of this was as him being someone’s punching bag.

Like they’d done throughout the ten days they’d been here, Miguel’s pack didn’t really care what the pack thought.

“You know how useful it is, don’t you, Stiles?” Miguel grinned without letting Scott go “Give Alice another chance. She’ll go easy on you.”

About to open his mouth and remind Miguel his body couldn’t heal within seconds, Stiles was abruptly interrupted by Alice’s voice behind him.

“Come on, maybe you can last a bit longer than a few seconds.”

Stiles would’ve liked to move heaven and earth to wipe that fricking smile off her face.

But he couldn’t.

Stiles took in a deep breath.

“I appreciate having functional bones, thank you very—.”

Stiles’ body reacted before he knew it, purely out of instinct. The moment he spotted the dark shadow speeding towards his face, he ducked, the words drowning in his mouth.

His heart throbbed in his ears.

“What the _hell_ was that for?”

But Alice didn’t acknowledge his question, she just laughed hollowly “See? You _are_ improving.”

“Stiles,” Stiles was surprised by Isaac’s voice. “you can do this.”

He really appreciated the lie.

Carefully stepping back, Stiles brought some distance between him and Alice. Silently, giving in to the other pack’s demand. In front of him, Alice bent her knees lightly, a malicious spark in her eyes.

Her hands were swinging by her sides. Stiles could’ve punched, she wouldn’t have been fast enough to block the attack.

Stiles slowly made a step backwards.

Grinning with confidence, Alice strode forward in a straight line. Being just a few metres away, Stiles could easily predict what she was going to do. He could’ve circled around her, hit her side.

He made another step backwards.

She was waiting too long. Her chin was raised. Stiles could’ve easily punched her throat.

He waited.

Finally, Alice swung her fist behind her head.

Stiles saw it coming from a mile away. He could’ve dodged, he could’ve blocked it, he could’ve used the balance she was definitely going to lose, bring her down once and for all.

Make _her_ last only a couple of seconds.

Hoping it wouldn’t send him to the hospital, Stiles raised his arms. Purposefully missing to block her wrist.

“Shit.” Someone muttered.

The enormous force hit his stomach, pushing every bit of air out of him. Gasping desperately for air, Stiles doubled over, wrapping his arms around his aching stomach. Coughing overcame him, he lost contact to reality around him.

Before he knew it, he was again, laying on the ground. The wave of pressure and pain in his back expanded within seconds. Out of breath, with a racing heart, Stiles stayed on the ground. The wet grass beneath tingled his skin, soaked his clothes.

“I’m done.” Stiles didn’t bother trying to get up “I don’t give a shit if Dracula himself comes to eat me, I’m _done_.”

A shadow fell over him. Two gentle hands closed around his shoulders, carefully pulling him up. Pain flashed though Stiles’ stomach as it was forced to double over again. He bit his bottom lip, killing out the grunt that wanted to escape.

Even though Stiles could stand perfectly, Scott didn’t let go of him. Much rather wrapping his arm around his shoulders, Scott glanced at his best friend.

“You did well.” He weakly smiled.

Stiles rose his eyebrows.

Being the incredibly friend he was, Scott decided not to acknowledge it. Neither did he say what everyone in that clearing was thinking. Stiles hadn’t had a chance. Honestly, he’d been pathetic.

“Who wants to go next?” Miguel smiled and rubbed his hands.

With his arm still wrapped around Stiles, Scott lead them to the right half of the circle. The half that had formed into their pack’s. Erica’s eyes sympathetically scanned him, smiling at him encouragingly. Even Isaac looked at him with something alike pity.

Derek, on the other hand, didn’t even acknowledge him. His jaw and fists clenched, he stubbornly stared at the pack before them.

Alice high-fived her brother, both laughed. Observing her expanded chest, the entire pack wondered how they could take pride in defeating someone as defenceless as Stiles, someone whose physical abilities were clearly no match to hers.

Still smiling, Alice turned around to look at the pack. That same betraying look painted all over her face. If there was something worse than having your butt kicked by someone, it was having it kicked by someone that was utterly failing to hide how rejoiced they were to see you fall.

Not noticing the pack’s distant reaction, Miguel stepped forward.

“What about you, Derek?” he pointed at the crossed armed man “Alpha to alpha training?”

All eyes landed on Derek. Tension made the air crack. They all waited for his response. Derek remained where he was for a second, staring into Miguel’s eyes thoughtfully.

Scott and Stiles exchanged a glance. Scott shrugged lightly.

“Fine.” Derek replied, taking his leather jacket off.

A wave of heat rushed up Stiles’ cheeks when he got a look at Derek’s skin-tight shirt.

Miguel smiled “Great!”

Before Derek could step into the sparring circle, Stiles’ hand snapped around his wrist, making the werewolf glance back.

“ _Please_ , kick his ass.”

The ghost of a smile brushed Derek’s lips. He nodded and walked into the circle.

To his side, Erica pressed her fist against her lips.

“Come on, Derek.” She whispered.

The pack had seen many things. They had lived through many dangers. They had faced many monsters. But the tension between the two alphas was something utterly new. Something none of them had ever seen.

Derek’s grumpy attitude and Miguel’s stubborn cheerfulness crashed against each other. There was no way this was only training. The air itself was vibrating with voltage between them.

Eyes flashed red. Claws burst forward. Growls filled the air.

Miguel was the first one to leap towards Derek, raising his hand over his head. Derek dodged to his left, immediately punching Miguel in the gut. Stumbling, Miguel lost his balance.

A smile brushed Stiles’ lips. Maybe this day hadn’t been that bad after all.

They continued fighting. They groaned when they punched and grunted when they fell. Every time Derek was forced to step back, every time he lost his balance, every time he as much as stumbled, Stiles heart stopped in his chest.

Derek _had_ to win. Derek couldn’t let that pack win. Derek had to show them how amazing this pack was.

It came out of nowhere.

There was a punch. Derek wasn’t fast enough to block it. He fell backwards, landing hard on the floor. Miguel’s red eyes gleamed with joy.

Stiles’ heart raced.

Miguel stepped towards Derek. He swung his leg back.

“Get up, Derek…” Erica mumbled to Stiles’ left.

Derek’s arm snapped up, closing around Miguel’s other leg. Pulling with all his strength, Miguel lost the ground beneath his feet.

One second after he had landed, Derek’s figure swung up. Derek’s hand closed around Miguel’s throat. Raising his arm over his head with a iron grip, he threw the alpha into the air.

Miguel landed with a heavy thud on the grass, rolling a few metres before remaining on the ground. His chest raising and falling rapidly.

The fight ended. Stiles and Scott smiled at each other. Erica laughed to their left. Isaac’s eyes gleamed.

Stiles’ day was officially saved.

-

No matter how hard they tried, Scott and Stiles couldn’t shake George off. It wasn’t enough that Miguel used every occasion he could to arrange some sort of collective activity between the two packs. Be it training, getting to know Beacon Hills or simply following the pack around. They would never leave them alone.

In school, things weren’t an improvement. Little smartass George had started following Scott around, had then moved on to Isaac and for a reason only known to the heavens ended up with Stiles before turning to Boyd and Jackson. However, since the pack usually met up during lunch and breaks, there wasn’t a day when George wasn’t present in their life. He corrected everything they said, talking about his broad and vast experience he’d gained through his pack’s travels, discrediting every bit of knowledge that wasn’t his.

Alice wasn’t better. Allison and Erica were the only two girls in the pack. Lydia did spend most of her time with the pack, but it only took one glance and Alice disliked her immediately. Maybe because Lydia was as subtle in her aggressions as Alice was, or maybe because she was the only one that could cold-heartedly point out why Alice took such joy in other’s shame. Whatever the case, Lydia was freed from the burden while there wasn’t a day when Allison and Erica didn’t have to spend time with Alice.

The two pack nights that should’ve happened were also utterly ruined. Since Miguel and Amanda didn’t seem to want to leave Derek alone, they heard of the weekly organized meetings every Friday. Naturally, it didn’t take a second for them to invite themselves.

Only John, the silent one, didn’t get on anyone’s nerves. He rarely joined in any activities and when he did, he didn’t say much, mostly listening to the pack. Harking to their stories and tales, he actually seemed to care. Even though Miguel was the one consistently repeating he wanted to get to know them, John seemed to be the one willing to put his own ego down and try to accomplish it.

More than two weeks went by. Stiles had more than the usual difficulty balancing his two worlds. Not only did he have to take care of the pack not finding out about his nightly crusades, but he also had to make sure none of the other (slightly apprehensive) pack members followed him. His mood was dreadful. All the anger he couldn’t release during the day, he let go during his real training sessions.

Being as lucky as he was, there were almost no real missions during that period of time. Not a single thing he could focus on to let his mind wonder off, to distract himself. To feel useful and prove to himself that he could, in fact, last longer than a few minutes in a fight.

To Stiles’ surprise, his uncle also seemed stressed and on edge. Ever since Miss Martian had informed him about what had happened in Rimbor, Batman (as well as Bruce) had become obsessed with said planet. He’d spent entire nights in the Batcave, researching as much as he could, desperate to find out what had happened.

The entire League was crushed by knowing they were wanted criminals throughout the entire galaxy. Not a single word had made it out of the Justice League and team’s headquarters but knowing there was such a heavy burden on their shoulders wasn’t easy.

Which meant that there was something worse in Stiles’ life than an intrusive pack. No matter how frustrating it got to have an overwhelmingly cheerful man, a know-it-all and a hypocrite always bothering them, it was only temporary. Stiles knew they’d move on eventually and things would return to normal.

The League was a complete different case. It wasn’t until almost a month later, that they found out what the Leaguers were planning to do.

Stiles didn’t like the idea at all.

-

The waves crashed against Mount Justice’s shore as all protégés circled around each of their mentors. Sadness and melancholy filled the air, but also pleasing expectation of what was to come. If everything went according to plan, the League would return cleared from all charges.

Knowing what it meant, the team’s members were saying goodbye to their mentors.

Wonder Girl looked up at Wonder Woman.

“I wish I could go with.” She muttered silently and crossed her arms.

“I doubt your mother would approve.” Wonder Woman’s hand fell on her shoulder “And only the six of us who stand accused need take this odyssey.”

She turned to look at Hawk Girl and Hawk Man, both standing a few metres behind with intertwined fingers.

“Though Hawk Man insists on accompanying his spouse.”

Her eyes travelled to the dark-skinned, blue-caped hero whose arms were tightly wrapped around his daughter.

“And Icon will act as our advocate. For it seems he is familiar with intergalactic trial law.”

-

A few metres behind them, Green Lantern’s firm and brown eyes were set on Captain Adam’s shiny, metallic skin.

“You sure this is necessary?” Captain Adam asked, his glowing eyes showing how sceptical he was about the whole situation.

Green Lantern replied in a heartbeat “The Guardians of the Universe seem to think so.” He explained “They’ve sent Hal and Guy ahead to make sure the so-called high court of Rimbor will know we come in peace—”

His voice lowered “—and know we expect a _fair_ trial.”

-

“How long will you be gone?” Superboy asked and clenched his fists, not hiding his frustration.

Superman’s soft hand immediately landed on his shoulder. “However long it takes to clear our names, Kon-El.” He smiled “But we will be back, little brother.”

-

Miss Martian’s head was burrowed in Martian Manhunter’s chest, her arms wrapped tightly around his body. After a few seconds, she looked up.

“I’ll miss you.” Her eyes were dull.

“And I you, M’gann.” Martian Manhunter smiled. He tilted his head “Oh, perhaps you could water the plants in my apartment while I’m gone?”

-

Nightwing’s voice was dull, silent. “Be careful, all right?”

Right before him, Batman’s masked face remained as emotionless and unmoving as always.

“I was about to say the same to you four.” He looked at his protégés one after another “I fear we leave the more dangerous task here on earth.”

The wink of a smile appeared on Nightwing’s face when he looked down at his friends. Her hand on her hips, Batgirl quickly followed his example. Robin and Mischief quickly glanced at each other. For a moment, all their struggles and victories flashed through their minds.

“We’ll manage.” Mischief smiled comfortingly at his uncle.

-

“Time to go.” Green Lantern’s voice interrupted all conversations.

Raising a fist with his green-gleaming ring, Green Lantern waited for his companions to surround him. Batman’s cape swung in the chilly night when he took his place behind Wonder-Woman. Superman’s eyes forged with determination next to Martian Manhunter’s delicate frame.

A green force-field came forth from Green Lantern’s ring, enveloping the eight heroes in a round bubble.

“May the gods be with you all.” Wonder Woman’s decisive voice cut through the air before the bubble closed around her.

Silently, the team watched as the round force-field shifted. It stretched backwards, forming a cockpit, a fuselage and two broad wings. In a matter of seconds, a spaceship made of green energy mounted before them.

The turbines roared. Wind wiped against their faces. Leaves spun around. Hair, capes and clothes thrusted back. Squinting their eyes, the team withstood the pressure pushing them back.

They stared at the spaceship as it rose. Their ears buzzed and the flying dust fought its way into their eyes. The green spaceship spun around, climbing up to the clouds, surpassing them, flying into the stairs.

In a matter of seconds, the dot shrunk, its gleam was drowned by the starts decorating the sky. Before they knew it, the ship was gone.

Captain Adam was the first one to look down. He turned around and walked slowly back into Mount Justice. One by one, the team’s members followed his example. Not saying a single word, their eyes lowered from the sky. Turning their backs on the stars, they headed back to Mount Justice, back to their training, back to their life.

None of them said what was lingering in the dark corner of their minds.

The team was now on their own.

-

Saying Harris disliked Stiles would’ve been an understatement.

Stiles knew the chemistry teacher’s lizard-like gaze was set on him, observing his every move, looking for the smallest of flaws, detention already waiting for him. It took a few seconds, but Harris moved on, turning his drilling look at Tiffany’s red-jacketed frame.

“I swear to God, one day Karma’s gonna come for him.” Stiles mumbled, his eyes surfacing the four rows before them, set on Harris “And I’ll _laugh_.”

Frowning at his textbook, Scott didn’t acknowledge his ranting. He eyed the erlenmeyer flask, pipettes and two solutions as if they were a exotic tiger, ready to jump at him any second.

“How can he be that angry all the time?” Stiles continued, not caring about the experiment they were supposed to be conducting “Isn’t there a limit? Don’t people like… explode or something? I doubt there’s much more than chemistry and--“

Scott sighed in defeat “I’m having other problems over here.”

Squinting, Stiles’ eyes didn’t leave Harris “That’s what he makes you think, but in reality--”

“What should we put in first? The natrium hydroxide or hydrochloric solution?” Scott tapped his book with his pencil “How much of it? And how do we figure out the concentration--?”

“—he’s like a koala, looks harmless and kind. But deep down--“

“—Do we even have the volume? Is there a formula or something —”

“– he’s ready to attack, snap at you any moment, ready to devour your face—”

“—The amount of substance? What’s--?”

Next to Tiffany, a bush of black curls spun around. Resting his elbow on the chair’s rest, George’s eyes scanned Scott thoughtfully.

“You don’t need the amount of substance. Harris said it _minutes_ ago.” His sharp tone interrupted Scott and Stiles’ private conversations “The concentration of hydrochloric solution is known, it is in the book, the one of natrium hydroxide not.”

Stiles’ eyebrows rose. Like many times during the last couple of weeks, he wasn’t interested in George’s blabbering.

His shoulders high, George continued “If you had read the task, you’d know the volume of hydrochloric solution we should use for the titration is 20ml. The one of the natrium hydroxide solution is the one you are supposed to measure with the experiment, _obviously_. And, _please_ don’t ask what a titration is, even you should’ve picked up on that by now.”

Scott’s fist clenched next to his opened book. His shoulders shook, however gently.

George didn’t care. If anything, his shoulders were higher up than before.

“You know what I think is most surprising?” Stiles leaned forward.

The werewolf’s brows rose challengingly, as if he were daring Stiles to say something he didn’t know, to correct him.

“The fact that you think we asked for your opinion.” Stiles smiled “We didn’t, by the way.”

A sound burst out of Scott. Immediately, his hand snapped to his mouth, the snickering turning into a cough. Yet, he couldn’t manage to hide the spark of joy in his eyes. Biting his bottom lip, he glanced down at his book.

Naturally, Stiles wasn’t allowed to take part in the joy.

All over on his front desk, Harrison’s eyes snapped up from the book he was reading the moment Scott started coughing. Hoarse and harsh and fake, it only took Harris a second to deduce what was going on. That and Stilinski’s satisfied smirk.

“Stilinski!” he shouted through the class, bringing silence on like a bolt “Something funny in your solutions?”

“…aside from their names?”

Harris’ eyes fell down the deepest and darkest hole there had ever been. “Anderson, change partners with Stilinski.”

Stiles’ mouth gaped open “But—”

“ _Now_.” It was tense, about to snap. Another word and Stiles would be catapulted to detention.

Taking in a deep breath, Stiles shut his book, pushed his chair back and got on his feet. When George walked by his side, his shoulder found its violent way into Stiles’. The werewolf didn’t even consider apologizing.

Silently biting his tongue to force the tide of not-very-kind-words back, Stiles took a seat by Tiffany’s side. His throbbing heart an constant alarm inside him, reminding him of how angry he was.

“Thank you.”

Stiles snapped out of his head. All adrenaline disappeared, only leaving place for utter cluelessness. With a frown on his face, his glance shifted to the person who had spoken.

Tiffany stared bluntly at him.

“For what?” he asked.

“For making him go away.” She turned back to look at her almost finished experiment “I was about to try a new experiment myself. See how long it would take him to shut up if I threw the acid at his face.”

Stiles’ lips twitched. He liked this girl.

“You know him well?” she asked, pressing gently on the pipette to let a few drops of the solution fall.

Stiles saw the tears fall on the acid, its colour changed to yellow.

“Not very.” He answered honestly “He’s been… visiting a friend of mine. I’m kinda compromised to tolerate him.”

“Oh, well,” Tiffany scoffed “believe me, I know how that feels.”

The purple ends of her hair swung forth as she wrote something down on her textbook. Really seeing her for the first time, it dawned on Stiles. There was more to the girl with three piercings and a love for leather jackets than what he knew.

Tiffany let more drops fall. Green.

“People like that always bring trouble.” She muttered, not only talking about George anymore “It’s better to know when to draw the line before it’s too late.”

-

February 13, that’s the day it happened.

Walking out of class, Stiles had no idea what would happen that night. What would happen the following days. He could never have guessed.

Ironically, there was only one thought in his mind. He was glad. His chest was blossoming with joy in anticipation of what would happen that evening. Or much rather, what wouldn’t happen.

“I’m sorry.” he apologized, but the two before him knew he wasn’t sorry. Not in the least. “But I can’t, and I’ve got an excuse, no, a _reason_ , not to go. There’s no way I’m going, Scottie.”

Standing to her boyfriend’s side, Allison’s eyes turned to slits “You are going to leave me alone in a clearing with two sparing packs of werewolves? Really? Are you that cold-hearted?”

Stiles didn’t step into the trap. “Wow, you can’t put any blame on me after you let me go there alone and get used as a punching bag. Me, skinny, defenceless Stiles with no hunter-training. You stand far better chances.”

Stiffening, Scott’s eyes avoided Stiles’ “There’s no way that’s happening again.” His eyes were steel. “We shouldn’t have let it go that far, Stiles, we should’ve—”

“Wow, dude, stop.” Stiles’ hands shot up, throwing a shadow on the blue jeep parked by his side “Don’t start with the Scott-Puppy-Blaming. It’s not your fault, it’s okay.”

Letting her eyes briefly wonder over the parking lot getting emptier each second, Allison shrugged. “It can’t be that long until they leave, can it?”

“That’s what we thought a week ago.” Scott sighed.

“And two weeks ago.” Stiles looked at the sky “And _three_ weeks ago. And a fricking _month_ ago.”

“My point is,” Allison took a deep breath “today will be one time less we have to train with them. We should look at it that way.”

Clapping on his jeep’s hood, Stiles smiled sourly. “I’m not coming anyway.”

Scott’s eyebrows rose up to the sky “Is this another secret mission for your oh so secretive uncle?”

A satisfied smirk stretched over Stiles’ lips. Within the first months he’d returned from Gotham, Scott had noticed he’d sometimes disappear during evenings and reappear during mornings. There wasn’t the shadow of a doubt in Stiles’ mind that Scott had tried to uncover his secret. But Mischief was too well trained, too experienced. Scott didn’t stand a chance against Batman’s protégé. In Beacon Hills, few ever would.

Thus, Scott had begun joking to voice his frustration, claiming Stiles was spying on other companies for his uncle. He was a famous philanthropist, not only a superhero after all. He had a company to run and enemies among other billionaires. It had been a simple explanation. One Stiles had been too glad to use. His uncle didn’t like him telling anything about his job in Wayne Enterprises and how Stiles got involved sometimes.

Scott had understood, had respected it. When Stiles disappeared, he just called it “visiting your uncle”.

However, every now and then, Scott returned to his former jokes and claimed Stiles was a secret agent.

Which, amusingly, wasn’t very far from the truth.

“Yeah, you know, 007 stuff.” Stiles smirked “Saving the world from men with fake British accents, the usual.”

Wrapping her arm around Scott’s waist, Allison couldn’t help but smirk.

-

Inside one of the most secure scientific facilities, Star Labs, a blonde scientist typed in the last commands in the machine, reading through the code one last time to make sure everything was going exactly as planned. Deciding three times would be enough, Adam Strange turned around, heading for the other end of his lab.

Sitting in front of a computer, his co-worker scanned the commands one last time. He glanced at Adam and nodded.

Adam’s eyes travelled to a screen nearby, transmitting his image to two different secret locations.

“We’re ready.” He spoke into his camera “Zeta shield relay satellites are all in place.”

On the other side of the screen, with not only skin, but also eyes of steel, Captain Adam nodded at the scientist, displaying his approval. Behind him, the few remaining members of the League waited patiently.

Adam’s voice spoke through the screen. “Activating satellites.”

In the Watchtower’s safety, Black Canary, Doctor Fate and Captain Marvel observed observe the images of the round satellites around earth’s orbit, turning around their own axis. Radiation sprouted, connecting all of them through a net of yellow gleaming zeta radiation.

At the same time, inside an inactive volcano just outside Happy Harbour, six teenagers stared at the images displayed before them. A circle depicting earth was being surrounded by another yellow circle, little dots blinking along its circumference.

Once the image ended drawing itself, bright beeping filled the cave of Mount Justice.

“Congratulations,” Adam Strange spoke from the other side of the screen “The zeta shield is now operational.”

Staring at the League and the scientist’s transmission, M’gann smiled at the moment she was witnessing. Safety and reassurance surrounded her. Not only through the shield’s protection but also through her boyfriend’s arms. Letting him wrap his arms around her, she rested her back on his chest, enjoying every bit of it.

“Absolutely historic.” La’gann’s chest vibrated as he spoke “With the zeta shield in place, no alien can teleport to our planet from off-world.”

Superboy walked into the main hall that second, not sparing the joyful couple to his right a single glance. With clenched fists, he headed straight for Mischief’s side. M’gann’s eyes followed him silently.

“Even your Strange friend won’t be able to travel to and from Rann without prior approval.”

M’gann’s eyes jumped back to La’gann as she listened to her boyfriend with affection.

“Shield’s great,” Superboy crossed his arms “but it won’t stop a space ship or a boom tube.”

Jaime Reyes frowned “What’s a boom tube?”

Within seconds, the all too familiar voice spoke inside his mind. The scarab infused in his spine commented on everything it could, like always.

 _“Boom tube—”_ it’s voice was sharp, precise, mechanic _“An alternate means of instant transport between distant locations. Not compatible.”_

Frustration got the better of Jaime.

“Not compatible with what?” he frowned, crossed his arms, sighed exasperated “I swear I don’t understand half the things you say.”

By his side, Mischief as well as Superboy glanced at him with concern in their eyes. For a moment, Jaime was so submerged in his anger he didn’t notice. Upset, he stared into the wall, his shoulders raising and dropping.

“The feeling’s mutual.” Mischief spoke slowly.

Jaime’s eyes widened in surprise, blood rushed to his cheeks. Like many times before, he had forgotten everyone around him wasn’t able to perceive the AI’s voice.

However, before he could explain, Superboy turned to look at Mal.

“Where’s Nightwing?”

The black-haired teen’s eyes left Jaime hesitantly. They landed on Superboy. “Taking the night off. Personal business.”

“Perfect.” Superboy sighed.

“So, back to movie night, Angelfish?” La’gann’s voice echoed from across the cave.

Almost all heads turned to look at the couple. Superboy immediately regretted it. The moment his eyes landed on the intertwined couple, resting their foreheads against each other, a haze of red flashed through his vision.

Without thinking about it, his hands snapped up.

“Tag.” They closed around Jaime’s hoodie and Mischief’s suit “You’re it.”

Superboy didn’t bother looking at his two victims. Instead, he started walking, dragging them along with him. Mischief couldn’t react quickly enough. Before he knew it, he was following Superboy, trying to regain his balance.

“Hey!”

Mal’s eyes widened “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” He stepped after Superboy, following “Kon, what’re you—"

“Taking the night off.” Superboy continued walking with his iron grip “Personal business.”

-

Flying above Washington’s Monument, the alien floating vehicle Sphere carried three young heroes above the city. Its blue wheels glared in neon light as the cold breeze hit the heroes faces and the engines roared.

There was only Superboy’s black shirt before Mischief, tight to his skin and highlighting his tense muscles.

Sitting silently by Blue Beetle’s side, Mischief tried to pull his gaze onto him. The blue armoured teenager was leaning heavily on the arm rest before him, crossing his arms, his brows furrowed.

After an eternity, his eyes finally landed on Mischief. Knowing talking wouldn’t go unnoticed by Superboy, Mischief pointed his head at the muscular figure before him, raising his eyebrows. When Blue Beetle’s muscles remained in their place as if he were petrified, Mischief repeated the gesture, his eyebrows almost shooting up to the sky.

“ _The Mischief is encouraging you to ask.”_ The scarab’s voice tingled in Blue Beetle’s mind.

Purposefully turning away, Blue Beetle tried to ignore the spoken and unspoken voices.

_“Ask.”_

Blue Beetle’s fist clenched.

_“Ask!”_

If it hadn’t been for his armour, his nails would’ve made his palm bleed.

**_“Ask!”_ **

“Alright, already.” Blue Beetle cried in anger “I’ll ask.”

Mischief’s eyes widened in utter surprise. Superboy’s back tensed, but he didn’t turn around from the steering.

“Ask what?” he shouted over the soaring wind.

“Oh, any piece of this mission you feel like letting us in on?” Blue Beetle leaned forward.

Not a muscle moved. Superboy’s frame remained as firm and motionless as a rock. A glance shot between Blue Beetle and Mischief, none of them getting what they wanted.

Mischief cleared his throat and looked at his feet “Look, I know you only picked us because Gar was studying and La’gaan and M’gann were… whatevering.”

“But we’re here, ese,” Blue Beetle joined in “and we want to help.”

When Superboy glanced back, he encountered Blue Beetle’s soft eyes, Mischief’s concerned eyebrows.

His muscles relaxed.

“Yeah.” He sighed “OK.”

His black hair swung when he turned to the steering again and pressed a red button. A blue-framed screen flashed before him, identical to the one that appeared just before Blue Beetle and Mischief.

They were looking again at Malina Island. Before it had been destroyed.

“The bomb Aqulad used last month to destroy Malina Island was clearly of Alien Origin.”

A ball of red started to expand from the inside of the volcano, swallowing the entire island in its heated light within seconds. The image disappeared and one of a tiny green skinned, red eyed Krolotean took its place.

“Obviously, the Kroloteans that perished there didn’t know anything about it, so we need to figure out where it came from.”

Mischief and Blue Beetle’s eyes were bound to the screen before them. Another image appeared. Three armed men wearing hoodies and caps, hiding in the night’s shadows.

“The criminal organization _Intergang_ has a history of trafficking in alien tech smuggled through earth through boom tubes.”

Mischief’s eyes turned to slits when various red-energized weapons appeared before him.

“So I’ve been keeping tabs on Whisper A’Daire, one of _Intergang’s_ top lieutenants.”

There was a woman. Long brown hair reaching until the end of her black shirt at her waist in a tidy pigtail. Military pants and boots on her lower half.

Another image. A very broad man with a tidy, short cut. His brows furrowed in anger above his thin moustache. Like the lieutenant, he was dressed in black and grey, his hands covered by gloves.

“Tonight, her boss Bruno “Ugly” Mannheim crawled out of hiding to meet up with her.”

A blue map flashed before them, white streets, sky blue buildings and red dot blinking.

“And they’re both in that truck.”

Mischief glanced down at the streets far below them. There was a white, inconspicuous truck beneath them on the freeway. A sign rushed past the vehicle. _Hall of Justice_.

“And it looks like they’re headed for—” Superboy broke off, frowning.

“The Hall of Justice.” Mischief ended.

-

The wheels squeaked as they were forced to come to a halt. A door opened and a tall man with a moustache stepped into the cool night. As he closed the door, a long-haired woman joined his side, grinning mischievously.

Carrying the metallic suitcase through the Hall’s deserted terrace, their steps echoed in the dead night. Metres above, Superboy squinted, trying to get a look at its content. His eyes were met with a simple shade of blue. It was lead, the only thing his X-ray vision couldn’t penetrate.

“Can you scan that case?” he turned to look at Blue Beetle.

“Yeah, sure.”

His armour’s arm shifted, building itself new. In a matter of seconds, a sonic scanner was in his arms.

Blue Beetle focused, staring at the data displayed on the orange glass covering his eyes. Symbols in a foreign language appeared, the suitcase remained closed to his eyes. Shrill beeping filled his ears as a red circle appeared before the suitcase, an exclamation mark thereafter.

 _“Cannot scan contents.”_ The scarab announced. _“Not compatible.”_

Blue Beetle’s eyes rolled in frustration “Not compatible again?” he shook the scanner in his arm “What does that even _mean_?”

Mischief had had enough of this.

“Blue, what do _you_ mean?” he asked firmly “Who are you talking to?”

Giving up on shaking his scanner, Blue Beetle sighed and let his head drop in defeat.

“It’s the scarab.” He pointed at his back “The thing stuck to my spine that gives me the armour, the powers.”

“It’s an artificial intelligence created by Ted Kord.” his eyes darkened behind the glass “You know, the previous Blue Beetle.”

Superboy glanced back, his voice hollow. “Yeah. I know. Good man.”

“So I hear. Guess he was a super genius or something.” Blue Beetle’s shoulders tensed “Captain Adam figures the scarab was Kord’s ultimate invention. But the Light killed him before he had a chance to use it.”

Blue Beetle looked at the sky, shrugged, hesitated “The scarab… advises me.”

The corner of Mischief’s lips moved “Like Jiminy Cricket?”

Blue Beetle smiled amused and nodded “Like Jiminy Cricket with a _really_ bad attitude.”

“But he can’t scan the suitcase for some reason.” Blue Beetle looked down at his scanner.

“Can it scan the hall?” Superboy asked “Ugly might be about to launch an attack against whoever’s inside, and it’s shielded from my infrared vision—”

“Scan complete.” Blue Beetle had finished before Superboy could come to an end “Hall’s deserted.”

Mischief frowned. “Uh, guys?” he asked frowning “Shouldn’t we worry about the alien-thingy there that looks like a bomb?”

Superboy and Blue Beetle’s gazes immediately snapped down at the spot Mischief was pointing. Behind the Hall of Justice, near the outside wall, Ugly was kneeling before the opened suitcase. Gleaming with red vines and veins stretching all over its surface, a small metallic box rested on the suitcase’s cushioned inside. A small screen on top of it, displaying something the young heroes were too far away to read.

“What _is_ that thing?” Blue Beetle asked, his orange eyes turned into slits.

Suddenly, Sphere’s engines roared hesitantly, like a man gasping for his last breath. Its neon wheels dulled, lost their light and hesitantly blinked back on again. Air hit the heroes as the vehicle struggled to keep itself floating, losing a bit of height every second.

“Don’t know.” Superboy inspected his alien vehicle “But the way Sphere’s reacting, I bet it’s Apocalyptan.”

Mischief rose his eyebrows “Meaning?”

“Meaning bad news.” Superboy steered, Sphere drop to a dive. “Let’s go.”

As they lowered their altitude, the engine’s struggling attracted the black-dressed woman’s attention. The corners of her lips dropped.

“Company, boss.” A’Daire’s voice was cold, stating nothing but a fact.

Ugly rose to his feet, the box in his hands, a smile on his face.

“Too little, too late.”

The device in his hands shifted, a transmitter forming on its top. In a matter of second, the radiation he needed spread through the night.

Above the ground, only a few metres away, Blue Beetle’s head went hardwire. A hammer smashed his skull repeatedly, currents of pain flashing through his mind.

“ _Not compatible!_ ” the scarab shouted inside his head _“Not compatible!”_

Blue Beetle groaned in agony, pressing his hands against his skull, hoping to keep it from exploding.

Mischief’s eyes widened “Blue!”

-

On the other side of the wall, inside the Hall of Justice, four giant trophies of the League’s first mission, shifted and moved. Life flooded their limbs like golden liquor, strengthening the hollow casts that had remained motionless for more than 10 years.

Wood, crystal, rock and gold cracked. The vitrine’s glass shattered.

The four figures came together, wrapped around each other, flew through each other, fused into each other.

-

“Game’s over Ugly.” Mischief landed swiftly on the ground.

Superboy right by his side. “Hand over the device.”

“You’re half right.” Ugly smiled. “Game _is_ over.”

The wall behind him cracked, debris flew into the sky. After another punch from the inside, the thick wall gave in, rocks falling and dust raising. A shadow walked out of the newly made hole.

A figure of rock with thick branches wrapped around its limbs. A figure with molten gold flowing through the rock’s cracks like blood. A figure with white crystals spiking out of its body like knives. A figure taller than a house.

Mischief’s heart jumped in his chest, his head resting completely on his neck to spot the entirety of the figure.

“That is _not_ a good.” He muttered.

As if to reply, the monster roared on top of its lungs, scratchy and hollow and hoarse.

“Attack.” Ugly grinned.

Superboy gasped for air. The creature’s arms rose up to the sky, falling in an instant. Mischief jumped to his left just in time, coughing as the cloud of dirt spread from the spot of the impact.

Jumping upwards instead of to his side, Superboy grasped an edge of the creature’s rocks as it swung back up, hanging on its limb like a chain. The creature noticed immediately. It shook its, swung back and forth forcefully. Grunting, it took all of Superboy’s strength to not lose his grip and fall to his death.

Seeing his opportunity, the second the creature’s movement slowed down, Superboy jumped as high as he could. Bringing his fist down with the entire force of the fall, he hit one of the creature’s spikes. It cracked, falling to the ground in pieces by Superboy’s side.

Having landed on his knees, the creature saw its opportunity to smash the Kryptonian. Its wooden foot rose. Superboy barely had enough time to roll away from the spot before it was crushed by the entire monster’s weight.

Taking this as his opportunity, Mischief jumped from the ground, landing on the creature’s thigh. Holding on with one hand, he snapped one sia from his belt, cutting as many branches through as he could.

Beneath him, Superboy took a similar approach. Racing to the other foot, his fists swung back, punching with immense force. The wood cracked and splattered as he fought his way through the monster’s limb.

Meanwhile, Sphere, the alien vehicle, had had enough time to analyse the radiation sprouting from the Apocalyptan device. Creating an exactly opposite duplicate, Sphere rose his own transmitter. The new radiation spread through the darkness, annihilating the Apocalyptan device’s radiation.

Groaning and blinking, Blue Beetle returned to reality. His head stopped throbbing. The scarab stopped shouting.

His eyes took in the scene before him, widening immediately.

Mischief jumped from the creature’s limb, dancing around its feet to avoid being smashed. Small marbles flew off his hands, exploding the second they crashed against the creature’s rock.

Superboy was also jumping, running and avoiding the monster’s fists made of rock, aiming to crush the Kryptonian.

The cut off branches grew back. The crystal regenerated itself. The small explosives didn’t even shake the rock.

“What _is_ that thing?” Blue Beetle asked, forgetting how to move.

 _“Apolaxian Golem.”_ The scarab immediately replied.

“You know, I’m bilingual.” Blue Beetle’s patience came to an end “And I still have no idea what you just said.”

_“Irrelevant. Attack.”_

Blue Beetle smiled “OK. That I get.”

Wings spread from his armour, propelling him to the star-filled sky. With utter concentration in his eyes, his armour’s arm shifted into a canon, aiming perfectly at the monster his friends were fighting.

Inside the battle, Superboy caught his friend’s movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Blue, no!” he shouted, his eyes wide.

But the blast was already on its way. The creature didn’t move a millimetre. The sonic wave hit the monster and its crystals glared blue for a second. Then; they lost the colour.

A heavy blast exploded from the creature.

Without a single warning, Mischief was thrown off his feet, rolling on the ground for a few metres before remaining motionless on the floor. Superboy soon followed, his back hitting Sphere as he grunted. The vehicle itself was thrusted back after the loud crash.

“Aw, _man_.” Blue Beetle only had a second to glance down at his fallen friends.

The blast reached him, sending him flying off balance. Screaming, Blue Beetle lost utter control of his armour, every ability to fly gone. His body landed like a dead weight on the dirt, dust clearing his path.

“They’re down.” A’Daire smirked in anticipation “Can we kill them?”

“Nah.” Ugly looked at the fallen heroes with exhaustion “Trying to kill a Kryptonian would be time-consuming.”

Superboy tried to get up, tried to move. His eyes wouldn’t open, his limbs wouldn’t stop shaking. He groaned.

“The League will be here any second.” Ugly typed something into his Apocalyptan device “Let’s just get gone.”

The monster stepped back. It roared at the sky like a wolf howling at the moon, lonely and broken. Thick branches sprouted from its back, gold between them. They spread creating two giant wings, screeching. It looked like a dragon, like a bat.

One of its hand lowered. Immediately, A’Daire and Ugly mounted on the wooden surface, big enough to carry them with ease. The creature jumped off its feet, swinging its golden wings to lift itself to the sky. Soon enough, the creature was out of sight, its place taken by the full moon above.

-

“How are the ears?” Blue Beetle asked, sitting crossed armed behind Superboy on Sphere.

By his side, Mischief had trouble hearing him.

“Fine!” he shouted.

Flying above fields and a deserted road, Superboy turned around to glance at his companions.

“Fine.” His answer was quieter, almost a normal volume “but what were you thinking using sonics against an Apolaxian?”

Turning around to look at the bright stars, Mischief tried to avoid Superboy’s gaze. His words were directed at Blue Beetle, but Mischief had not a single idea of what he was talking about. He wasn’t eager for Superboy to know that, though.

“Dude, never even heard of an appe-laxative before tonight!” Blue Beetle defended himself, waving his hand.

Mischief smirked. He bit his bottom lip.

Superboy didn’t think it funny, he sighed in defeat.

“You freshmen never do the homework.” He glanced back. “Haven’t you read the case file on the League’s first mission? Haven’t you taken the guided tour of the Hall?”

“Those are rhetorical questions, right?” Mischief asked slowly.

Superboy rolled his eyes and turned around to look back at their path.

“The Apolaxians were an alien race of energy beings that attacked earth twelve years ago.” He explained.

Mischief frowned “I was four years old, man, I can’t remember that.”

“They inhabited elemental host bodies,” Superboy ignored his talking “including one made of crystal that could _absorb_ and _redirect_ a sonic attack.”

“Oh.” Blue Beetle didn’t have much to say.

“So, what were they doing inside the hall?” Mischief asked.

“The original seven members of the League drove the energy beings off-world. The empty husks the aliens left behind became the League’s first trophies.”

“Ugly must have reactivated the husks,” Mischief guessed “combined them somehow into a creature he could control.”

Before him, Superboy nodded. “Sphere is tracking the device’s Apocalyptan energy readings. We’re closing in.”

-

Ugly jumped out of the creature’s palm, landing on the snow-covered forest by A’Daire’s side. Behind them, silent, rueful howling and groaning filled the clearing.

“It sounds…” A’Daire stared at the creature with fallen eyes “sad.”

Ugly typed more commandoes into his device. “Not go sentimental on me, A’Daire.”

His eyes brushed her for a moment before returning to his device. A’Daire’s back turned on the creature, her attention fully on her Boss.

“It’s a construct of wood, stone, et cetera.” Ugly continued typing “This gyzmo put together the residual psychic energy of its former alien hosts, but that monster doesn’t feel _anything_.”

He glanced at the creature with eyes of steel “And with this thing as my enforcer, I can expand _Intergang’s_ reach _exponentially_.”

“Wow. Five syllabels.”

Gasping, the criminal’s eyes snapped up at the floating vehicle above them.

Mischief leaned over the railing “I didn’t think you knew any words with more than two.”

“Hilarious.” Ugly’s voice was anything but amused “But we’ll see who’s laughing when I—”

He looked down at his device, started typing commands—

“New Genesphere.” Superboy told his alien vehicle “Jam all Apocalyptan signals in the area.”

The device sizzled, cracked, burnt. Electricity streamed off its surface, shocking Ugly’s hands. Crying out in pain, the criminal let the device fall on the snow. Smoke rose from the broken device.

A wooden foot immediately smashed it.

“Uh-oh.” Ugly’s eyes brushed the creature he had now no control of.

A fist of stone swung back, hit forward. The criminals were catapulted off their feet. They slid through the snow before remaining on the ground as heaps. Motionless.

Jumping upwards with an immense roar, the creature’s fist found its way to the floating vehicle. Everything shook around the three young heroes. The Genesphere lost its balance, falling hard on the ground.

Mischief jumped off the vehicle just in time, landing on the snow with a roll. By his side, Superboy landed on one knee. Above their heads with spread wings, Blue Beetle remained untouched.

The creature let its body fall back on the floor, a blizzard rose off the ground, snow set into extreme motion by the creature’s immense mass.

Covering his nose and mouth with his sleeve, Superboy held on to a tree. The giant storm in front of him blinding and soaking him.

On the other side of the clearing, Mischief glanced around. He had nothing to hold on to. Taking the decision he knew was the stupidest one, he jumped. His hands closed around a creature’s arm. Grunting with immense effort to not fall, Mischief pulled his sia out of his belt, trying to cut the creature.

The snow cleared enough for Superboy to see. Immediately, he also jumped off his feet, landing on the creature’s other arm.

Roaring in fury, the creature swung its entire body violently. Mischief lost his grip, his back landing on the snow as hard as if it were stone. Superboy flew through the air, flying into a tree, it broke in half, clearing his path.

Blue Beetle’s armoured hands turned into hammers. Using the fall’s momentum, he let himself fall on the creature, aiming for its face.

The moment his hammer hit its shoulder of stone, Blue Beetle bounced off. He screamed through the fall, landing hard on his back.

_“I warned you that tactic would be ineffective.”_

Blue Beetle groaned, got on his knees and narrowed his eyes.

“Por favor!” he retorted “I’m trying to—”

A fist of wood suddenly landed on his back, smashing him, crushing him.

Every bit of air was knocked out of his lungs, his response died out. When the fist was gone, Blue Beetle had long lost consciousness.

-

A few kilometres away, two shadows observed the desperate guards as they fired at the Apocalytan creature, protecting the two reactor tubes behind them. The bullets bounced off the creature’s chest. The alarm’s pounding got louder, killed all the helpless commands and orders the guards tried to communicate.

“Mixing an Apolaxian husk with the potential for a nuclear meltdown could be a recipe for disaster--” a shadow’s voice spoke, deeper than any other voice “—or hilarity. I haven’t decided.”

By his side, a female voice strong like fire replied. “Want me to stop the thing?”

“No. This incident, taken to its ultimate extreme, may prove useful.” The deep shadow replied.

Before them, the creature’s arm swung down, crushing the street right in front of the gate.

“But,” the deeper voice spoke again. “you could deal with the interloper meat back in the clearing.”

The woman smiled “Happy to oblige, partner.”

As she stepped out of the shadow, the scar on her face gleamed under the moon’s light. Her short hair brushed her cheeks and her guns her thighs as she crossed the woods, a smile of anticipation on her face.

-

Superboy smashed Ugly and A’Daire’s back against the same tree, keeping them still with a firm grip around their clothes. The criminals grunted, shifted, tried to get away.

Ugly’s hands closed around Superboy’s forearm “You freed the beast, Super-Brat.” He wriggled “Now no one’s controlling the monster.”

Superboy ignored the man.

“Blue, lock them down.”

His armour’s arms shifted again, turning into two staplers. The blue devices hissed as the metal was propelled out. They flew through the clearing, reaching the criminals within seconds.

The blue staples landed perfectly above their shoulders and beneath their armpits, locking both their arms to the tree. Superboy let go of their clothes, leaving them wriggling and desperately trying to get out of their situation.

“ _That tactic would be more effective if you fired through bone.”_

Blue Beetle shuddered “No!”

“Blue, let’s go!” Mischief shouted behind him “Fight your inner demons later.”

Blue Beetle’s head snapped back, spotting his friends already getting on Sphere.

“ _Demon_. Singular.” He corrected and started walking towards the vehicle “One’s enough. Believe me.”

-

Groaning as loud as it could, the creature let its fists fall on the wall, breaking a bit of it after every punch. The guards had given up the fight, instead cowering behind fallen stone, hoping to get out of this alive.

The wall broke entirely, the creature’s path cleared towards the two nuclear reactors.

Blue energy beams hit its chest, sending it stumbling off balance. Sphere’s canon’s retracted as the floating vehicle came to a halt right before the creature.

“Deploy!” Superboy and his team jumped off their seats “We can’t let it breach the reactor!”

Breaking the pavement beneath him, Superboy landed on one knee before jumping back up again. Screaming as he cut through the air, Superboy hit the creature right in the chest, making it stumble backwards.

On the ground, Mischief fished a grappling hook from his belt, swinging it in circles a few times before thrusting his arm up, aiming at the creature’s arm. Exactly as he had expected, the hook circled around the creature’s limb before gripping one of its branches.

Grabbing tightly on to the rope and jumping off his feet, Mischief swung through the air. Pulled down by the young hero’s entire body weight, the creature’s stumbling got heavier, his stability shakier.

It growled in frustration, trying to shake the hook off.

The moment Mischief landed, he pulled down the rope with all his might. Blue Beetle’s hands had turned into hammers again. At the same time, he came flying down the sky, hitting the creature’s legs from behind.

Losing every bit of balance it had managed to retain, the creature swung back. Its back hit the ground hard, roaring and trying everything it could to get in its feet again.

Mischief pulled harder on the rope, using a rock as leverage to multiply his strength. Even so, his muscles were shivering with the effort. Superboy jumped on the other arm, using his Kryptonian strength to keep it down. Like Mischief, he was barely holding on.

“Lock it down!” Superboy shouted.

“Working on it!” Blue Beetle immediately replied, his armour already changing yet again into a stapler.

The creature moved. Mischief grunted. Superboy clenched his teeth.

The blue metal shot out of Blue Beetle’s armour. One, two, three times. Soon enough the creature was held down by the blue, giant staples by his neck and arms.

It didn’t last a second.

With a single movement, the staplers flew off the ground. The creature rose. Mischief grunted as the rope pulled him upward, his feet losing every contact to the ground.

The creature shook its other arm. Superboy lost his grip, was catapulted back. As he soared through the air, his back hit Blue Beetle, bringing them both down with a grunt.

Within the following second, the creature spotted the rope’s end laying to his left. It stepped on it and catapulted its arm up. The rope tensed beneath Mischief’s fingers for a second. Suddenly, it snapped. The fall was shorter than what Mischief would have expected. He landed on the ground with a groan, black dots blurring his vision.

Laying on his stomach, Blue Beetle groaned.

“I don’t suppose we could just ask it to play nice.” He looked up at the creature.

“ _Such a tactic would betray weakness._ ” the scarab spat.

“Wait.” Blue Beetle’s eyes widened “You mean it’s possible?”

-

Metal cracked. Containers fell to the floor. The creature growled and roared.

Taking a stand right behind the creature, Blue Beetle rose his arm, his armour turned into a sonic cannon.

“Stop, Blue!” Mischief and Superboy came running towards him “Sonics don’t work!”

Blue Beetle glanced down at his sonic cannon “Not as an attack, but maybe—”

 _“Frequency adjusted.”_ The scarab interrupted _“Proceed.”_

Without hesitating, he fired. The sonic waves hit the creature, and something came back. Groaning in pain, Blue Beetle fell on his knee.

“Blue, Break off!” Mischief shouted fastening his pace “Whatever you’re doing break off before it kills you!”

His hand closed around the cannon, trying to push it down, to direct it somewhere else.

Blue Beetle’s other hand fell over his.

“No, it’s not attacking!” he desperately announced. “It’s _communicating_.”

With shaking voice and limbs, he got on his feet “Communicating its pain!”

Superboy’s eyes widened. Mischief’s body froze.

“Listen!” Blue Beetle’s eyes flashed orange “ _Where is the stillness of wood, of stone, of crystal, of metal?”_

The creature turned around. If it had had eyes, they would’ve been firmly set on Blue Beetle.

 _“All this noise, all this life, is pain.”_ Blue Beetle translated _“We sense the power in this place—”_

He pointed at the reactor _“Power enough to destroy us, to end the pain, to be still again.”_

Superboy’s eyes were frozen on Blue Beetle, something vulnerable in them, something broken.

“I can relate.” He shook his head, turned to look at the creature, his eyes hardened “I mean—We can help you. We _will_ help you.”

Metres behind them, the shadow of the forest had stepped out of its hiding, getting nearer to observe the scene.

“Sorry, meat.” it said to itself with the same deep voice “But we can’t have that.”

It rose its arm and fired. Waves of sound like none of them had ever heard before exploded, hitting the creature. Mischief groaned, pressed his hands against his ears. Superboy turned away, also holding his hands above his ears.

Blue Beetle screamed in pain, eyes widening like plates.

Rock cracked, crystal shattered, wood broke. Pieces of it all fell to the ground. The creature groaned in agony, falling to tiny pieces, losing every bit of itself. The gold in his chest heated up, expanded, the pressure grew.

It became too much.

With a single wave, the creature exploded. Light blinded everything and everyone for a moment. Then; rocks, wood and crystal rained like teardrops.

Blue Beetle’s body lost the ability to hold itself.

Just in time, Superboy’s hands snapped upward, catching him in time to soften the fall. Kneeling on the ground with one arm around Blue Beetle’s shoulders, he let the fallen hero rest his head on his knee.

Mischief spun around, looking for whoever was responsible, looking for whatever had decided to attack the creature after they had understood it. Who had decided to kill it.

He only saw the small particles of gold, floating like ashes around them.

Two guards came running towards them, the fire behind them.

“Don’t know who you guys are, but you took that thing down!” a man cried out in joy “Probably saved the whole east coast.”

Blue Beetle’s eyes opened, the rain of gold poured over him.

“It was alive.” He whispered. He raised his open palm, caught a tear of gold. “And now, it’s gone.”

He looked at Superboy “Who attacked? Who killed it?”

The Kryptonian’s eyes darkened “Someone ugly.”

-

“I’m telling you, they’re long—” Mischief’s words died out in his lips the moment he stepped back into the clearing “—gone.”

Blue Beetle’s armour immediately turned into a scanner directed at the two criminals still hanging on the trees.

Mischief and Superboy walked over to Ugly and A’Daire. They hadn’t moved a millimetre, but _something_ had happened. Their bodies were completely numb, their heads hanging over their chests, their arms loosely by their side. Every bit of force and life squeezed out of them. Drool rolled down one side of their mouths, their eyes staring dulled into the void.

“They’re alive. Breathing. Steady heartbeats.” Blue Beetle ended his scan. “But non-responsive.”

Superboy snapped his fingers before Ugly. Nothing. No response.

Mischief let his eyes wash over A’Daire, seeking anything that could point him in the direction of what had happened. On the ground, something dark, contrasting the white snow, caught his attention. It formed the shape of a footstep, a female one judging by the size. What surprised him was what it was made of.

He kneeled down, brushed it with his finger, took a look at it. There was no way he could mistake it for anything else.

Mountain ash.

-

“As requested,” the hunter walked back to her partner’s side “Ugly and Whisper are now a living warning to anyone else straying from the path of the light.”

She glanced forward at the smoke next to the nuclear plant “But why blow up Gruesome? Seems like a wasted resource.”

The deep voice answered slowly, calculatingly.

“A resource falling into enemy hands is a resource best disposed of.”

“Partner,” joy filled her every word “I like the way you think.”

-

It was about 11 o’clock when Stiles returned to his house. Judging by the shut-off lights, he supposed his Dad had already gone to sleep, probably thought he had been hanging out with Scott.

Walking into his room, Stiles smiled at the thought of what the pack had done that evening, that night. He wondered whether there had been a pack nigh after training and if so, how it had gone with the five visitors. Looking at everthing from the outside, their predicament was rather entertaining and amusing.  

Wanting to know what had happened, Stiles pulled his phone out of his pocket. As he sat down on the edge of his bed, he texted Scott, telling him he was back and wanted to know everything that had happened.

After he’d brushed his teeth, put his pyjamas on and done his homework, Stiles frowned when he glanced at his phone, wondering why Scott wasn’t answering.

It was Friday night. Scott usually didn’t sleep until 12 pm., neither did he leave his phone abandoned.

Ignoring the seed of worry planted in his chest, Stiles went to bed.

-

His muscles were sore when he woke up. No matter how hard he trained, being thrown and pushed around would never get any less painful. One half of his consciousness still asleep, Stiles’ turned in his sheets, hiding in its softness, its cold touch.

His lids fluttered open when he remembered. His heart suddenly throbbing in his heart, Stiles’ hand reached for his mobile phone on the nightstand.

It was about 9 o’clock.

No message of Scott.

The seed sprouted.

Taking in a deep breath, Stiles opened his messages. Looked at Scott’s status. He’d last been active yesterday 6:13 pm.

A leaf took shape.

Sitting up, Stiles scrolled down, checked his contacts, checked their status. None of the pack had been active after 7 pm. His blood was now rushing through his veins, Stiles did the first thing that came to mind.

 _I’m being paranoid_ , he repeated to himself, _what is the worst that could happen?_

Scott wouldn’t answer his phone. No matter how many times he called. When Melissa did, she told Stiles Scott had told her he’d be at Derek’s until late at night. She had gone to sleep before he’d returned and gone to work before he’d woken. She hadn’t seen him.

It was only minutes and Stiles was dressed and ready to go. He found a note on the table, his Dad telling him he didn’t have to cook tonight, there was still some food from yesterday left. His Dad’s shift would end at about 2 pm, he’d come back home then.

Not bothering to have some breakfast, Stiles got on his jeep, drove to Scott’s. No one opened the door. He knocked and waited for several minutes. Without a response.

After a couple of minutes, Stiles had enough. Walking over to the back of the house, Stiles glanced around to make sure nobody was around and started climbing. Usually he’d pretend his was far too difficult for him, but right now he didn’t care.

Splitters were stuck on his fingers when he managed to force the window open. Jumping into Scott’s room a wave of stuffy air hit his face. The blue-sheeted bed was perfectly made, his bag laying carelessly on the floor.

The plant inside his chest was becoming a flower.

Trying to calm his breathing down, Stiles walked down the corridor, knocked on every door he could find. Walked down the stairs; did the same thing.

The house was deserted.

His next stop was Derek’s loft.

The moment he knocked on the door and no one opened, the flower blossomed. Panic threatened to take over him, every part of him yelling, shouting that something wasn’t right. Something was _very_ wrong.

Batman’s voice echoed through his head.

_Be brave, Mischief. When the night seems darkest, take control of it. Sometimes, you can be your only light._

And Stiles took control of it. He pulled a clip from his shoe, something Batman had also taught him, cracked the lock, opened the door.

Like Scott’s house, it was deserted.

The fridge was full, the living room tidy.

The pack hadn’t been here.

Whatever had happened, it had happened before pack night. That matched his contact’s information. That’s why they’d all been inactive for so long.

Stiles drove to the last place they would’ve gone before pack night.

The clearing for training.

The moment he stepped into it, he knew something had happened. Something _more_ than training. His heart was racing at full speed as he walked around. He was surrounded by broken branches, the crumbled bushes, the ripped-out grass.

His eyes suddenly caught something on the floor.

A red, almost brown colour, tainting the green grass. Stiles immediately crouched, took a look at it, made sure it was what he thought. Blood.

A shiver ran down his spine.

Something had happened.

Glancing down, he found more.

Dried out puddles, like apples scattered on a tree.

Stiles shook his head, trying to find _more_. Something. Anything that could help him figure out what had happened.

It didn’t take him long.

It was also on the floor, hidden in plain sight. A black powder, a green powder and a yellow sticky substance.

Mountain ash and wolfsbane.

Stiles let himself fall defeated on the floor. Numbers and calculations running through his mind. Resting his elbows on his knees and his head on his hands, it didn’t take long for him to gather what had happened.

Hunters.

Not the Argents. But others.

Stiles took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, tried to keep his body still.

They weren’t dead. He would’ve found the bodies if that was the case.

Hunters.

Stiles opened his eyes, looked down at his hands. They shook, trembled like his entire world.

Hunters.

The pack was gone.

They’d been taken.

By hunters.


	4. Hunters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear people, :D  
> Here it is; The next chapter. I hope you like and enjoy it.  
> I'm sorry it took so long to update, I hope there isn't such a big gap between updates in the rest of the story. I will give my best. :D  
> However, this chapter turned out to be longer than I expect. Thus, you can take the length as a recompensation for the long wait.  
> Thank you a lot for reading and being patient with me.  
> If you liked the chapter, you can let me know. I would really appreciate knowing your thoughts. :D  
> I hope you have a very nice day!  
> Melpomene :D

The engines roared through the night as the vehicle approached the fleeing figure. Long strands of wheat and grass brushed his leather suit, slowing the escape and making every breath more difficult than the last one.

Using the tractor’s white lights to see the fields before him, Robin looked for his teammate. However, the only person present was the tractor’s driver, pressing his shoe as hard as possible against the pedal.

 _“Could use a little help over here._ ” The young hero muttered, forcing his black boots to move faster.

The yellow vehicle approached, its lifter casting a dark shadow over the young hero. Pulling the grappling gun out of his belt, Robin scanned his surroundings. A tree broke out of the monotonous harvest a few metres before him. Fastening his pace one last time, Robin cut left, running towards the tree.

Behind him, metal clattered with the landing of two heavy shoes. Moving in the night’s shadows, a second young hero kneeled on the tractor’s ceiling. His gloved hands closed around its edge before he jumped. Swinging through the air, his feet entered the windowless construction.

The tractor shook violently when the masked hero’s feet successfully knocked the driver off his seat. However, the hooded driver soon recovered, pulling a knife out of his belt and drawing a big circle through the air with it.

The same second, Robin rose his grappling gun and fired. The metallic end wrapped itself around a branch, propelling him forward and out of danger.

Inside the tractor, the hero with a green fox printed on his chest, pulled two sais out of his belt.

“I honestly have more important things to do right now.” He muttered to himself before attacking.

The tall, black-dressed man was no match for him. It only took a few well-placed strikes, some elegant dodges and one quick swing and the man fell.

 _“Mischief!”_ Robin shouted in his ear “ _Get out of there! Now!”_

Not hesitating a second, Mischief did as he was told. Kicking the limp body out of the truck, he jumped out of the vehicle. Cold air and hard earth hit his body as he rolled on the field, softening his fall.

A second had barely passed when extreme heat hit his skin, forcing him to run for his life. A deafening crash followed, accompanying sudden brightness from the site of the explosion.

Mischief turned around. Flames consumed the tree’s leaves and branched, reaching out from the metallic vehicle.

“When Nightwing said ` _create a distraction´_ ,” Mischief’s eyes observed the dancing flames “I doubt he meant ` _get crushed under a tractor´_.”

Even though he hadn’t heard, nor seen anything, he knew Robin had landed by his side. His suspicion was confirmed when his cousin stepped forward, crossing his arms.

“I wasn’t crushed.” He remarked while brushing dirt off his clothes “I had everything under control.”

Mischief rose his eyebrows and started walking towards the faintly lit Victorian building across the fields “Yeah, because _almost_ being crushed is _so_ different from actually _being_ crushed.”

“Let’s go.” Robin ignored his comment and closed his hand around Mischief’s suit before starting to pull him forward “It won’t take long for them to find out something happened here.”

Shaking himself off the black-caped boy, Mischief rose his eyebrows, perfectly aware of the smouldering heat behind him. The flames’ brightness casting its shadows all around itself.

“No kidding.” He answered, both shadows ran “I thought a _gigantic_ explosion wouldn’t get their attention at all.”

Robin shook his head and continued running. Once they had left the crisping flames far behind them, Mischief’s hand snapped up to his ear.

“ _Nightwing, have you found anything_?” his voice was quiet while he scanned his surroundings to find cover.

 _“Negative.”_ The frantic typing of keys accompanied Nightwing’s voice _“I’ll need a couple more minutes.”_

Robin headed for a tree a couple of metres before them, cowering behind its shadow. Melting with the night’s long and shifting shadows, both heroes observed the flaming spectacle metres before them. The night’s harsh breeze pulled and pushed the fire, fuelling and empowering it.

“We can get you crushed by another tractor.” Mischief commented, observing the distant silhouettes nearing the explosion.

-

The three farmers ran with hoses in their hands, aiming at the raging fire before them. The flames stretched far over their heads.

Meanwhile, Robin and Mischief remained in the exact same spot. Behind a tall tree, their silhouettes melted with the night’s shadows, rendering them invisible.

After a couple of minutes, a black van, rusted and barely holding on to its colour, drove through the fields filled with purple and white flowers. Halting in front of the flames, the van’s frontal wheels remained untouched on the earth beneath them while the vehicles other half swung an entire circle around them. The wheels screeched, making every present head snap in its direction.

From underneath the shadow, Mischief frowned “What’s going on?”

His companion did not bother to respond. Moving quickly, he detached one part of the metallic band around his wrist. The drone approached the newly arrived van.

“Put this on.” Robin offered Mischief a small, circular chip. Without asking why, he followed his cousin’s example and plugged it into the ear unused by the coms.

Voices hit Mischief’s ear. The marble-sized drone swarm over the farmer’s heads, recording every one of their words.

Unaware of the equipment above, a tall woman stepped out of the driver’s seat, her blonde hair swinging violently as she slammed the door shut.

“You had _one job_!” her icy blue eyes fell on the flinching farmers “Get me the wolfsbane and remain under the radar!” 

She stepped towards the farmers, the yellow flames casting dancing shadows on her face.

“But you just go and set it aflame!” the woman’s yelling stopped. She took in a deep breath “Now, what are you planning to do if anyone sees this? If the police or firemen show up?”

The farmers exchanged nervous glances, neither of the daring to speak. In fact, neither of them were able to speak, their lips and limbs trembling under the woman’s cutting glance.

One of them, the one with military pants and red hair, stepped forward.

 “Well, y’see, ma’am,” his voice was a thin thread, ready to snap. “Ya order ain’t ready. We was waitin’ for tomorrow.”

The woman’s eyes turned into slits, almost as thin as the long scar across her face.

“That has _nothing_ to do with your incompetence.” she spat. The van’s other door opened, a male shadow joining the woman. Firm as a rock, the woman’s eyes didn’t leave the farmer for a second “However, I _do_ need a new shipment of wolfsbane sooner than expected. There’s a— _cargo_ I need to ship quickly.”

At her words, Mischief’s torso leaned unconsciously forward.

«What y’need, ma’am. » the red-headed nodded frantically. He pointed at the tallest of the farmers «Get ‘er what she need, lad. »

While the farmer nodded and pointed the woman’s tanned and strongly built companion towards the right direction, Mischief turned to look at Robin.

“It has to be them.” he nodded at the van “They are the ones that are buying the wolfsbane. Those are the hunters.”

“I think those two do a lot more than just _buy_ the wolfsbane.” Robin answered, his gaze on the humbly dressed farmers “Aside from our truck-friend, I doubt any of the farmers know what they are planting here.”

“If she offers enough money, they won’t ask questions.” Mischief agreed. “We have to put a tra—" 

His words drowned out in his throat the second he spotted the third figure stepping out of the black van.

He was not dressed in black pants and jacket. His boots were not heavy and thick. Weapons coated in wolfsbane did not swing around its hips.

He wore a delicate coat, green as olives. He had grey hair, old as the art of assassination itself. Golden rings decorated his hands, stolen from the richest treasures in the world. Light reflected from gold on his hip, bouncing off the long sword.

“What the hell is _he_ doing here?” Robin cursed underneath his breath.

Ra’s Al Ghul’s arms crossed behind his back as he stepped towards the farmers and joined the huntress’ side.

“Ask them to hurry up, Bellisa.” he calmly asked “We wouldn’t want Queen B and our partners waiting too long for their shipment.”

The huntress, Bellisa, smiled and bowed her head for just a second.

“I’m sure they won’t.” her eyebrows rose challengingly at the three farmers before her “You wouldn’t disappoint us, would you?”

The moment the last word left her mouth, two of the farmers took off after their friend, heads lowered and rushing steps.

Ra’s Al Ghul observed the flames, not moving a single muscle, sweating a single drop or showing the slightest discomfort. Shadows danced over his face.

“When will they be ready for Bialya?”

The woman turned around to face him “After I’ve got enough wolfsbane?” she shrugged “Four hours at most.”

Robin and Mischief exchanged glances.

“We have to get Nightwing.” Mischief glanced over his shoulder at the building “ _Now_.”

Robin’s mouth opened, his response on the tip of his tongue. However, his answer was destined to remain unspoken.

For in that instant, Ra’s Al Ghul made a step forward. A single step changing everything for the young heroes. Metal clang the moment his foot crushed the dirt.

The assassin frowned, stepping away and leaning down. His hands closed around the long metallic object, inspecting it carefully for a second before getting back on his feet.

A sai.

Mischief’s hands snapped to his hips, seeking the comforting cold touch of the weapons that had joined his every mission since he was a child.

Only one of his hands found what it was looking for.

Eyes wide, he exchanged one quick glance with Robin.

“Shit.” Mischief muttered, remembering how he had rolled on the ground to soften his fall.

Ra’s Al Ghul’s eyes rose and stared into the night’s shadows, his hands still playing with the weapon he had found.

“Well,” he spoke, knowing someone was listening “Looks like someone caused this fire after all.”

The huntress inspected the sai for a moment before stepping threateningly close to the last remaining farmer. The red-headed man flinched, not daring to look her in the eye.

“Put security on high alert.” Bellisa ordered and pointed at his chest “Get _every single_ centimetre of that building and these fields inspected. I want whoever knows about our deal caught, got it?”

The man nodded frantically, taking off towards the main building before his head had stopped moving.

-

 _“Nightwing, get out of there.”_ Mischief whispered, his eyes not leaving the two pacing and armed figures before him _“The League of Assassins is somehow involved and— dammit… just get out of there before anyone sees you.”_

Hearing nothing but silence on the other end of the line, Mischief joined his cousin and observed Bellisa and Ra’s Al Ghul. Like the morbid villains they were, both had pulled out their weapons. Ra’s holding the unsheathed sable in his hands while Bellisa’s grip was tightly closed around the handle of a short knife.

“Who the hell is she?” Robin asked, glancing down at the screen projected by his left wrist. His right hand typed on the holographic keyboard, dismissing and opening file after file within the same second “There is absolutely _nothing_ about her in the League’s database.”

While Robin continued his search, Mischief observed the shadows. The drone had long left the air’s security and, following Robin and Mischief’s commands, wondered inside the black van.

Suddenly, a glaring alarm exploded behind the heroes. Their heads immediately snapped, heart racing as they observed the light behind every window turned on all at once. Shadows ran behind the windows, some racing their hands while others just sprinted.

“ _Great_.” Mischief turned to look at Ra’s and Bellisa. With newly awakened interest, the criminals had started moving “Because things couldn’t work out. Not once.”

The screen before Robin disappeared within a heartbeat. Another second and his extended staff layed in his gloved hands.

“Nightwing will have enough to deal with inside.” He stepped out of their cover “We’ll have to keep these two off his back.”

Mischief pulled his one sai out of his belt “Why am I not surprised?”

-

“You’ve got something that belongs to me.” Mischief shouted over the crackling of fire and hurling wind between him and the criminals “Didn’t your mom teach you stealing wasn’t nice?”

Robin quickly glanced at his cousin, a deep frown marked over his face. However, his eyes returned to the green-caped assassin and the black-dressed huntress in front of them.

As soon as the young heroes stepped close enough, the Demon’s eyes turned into thin slits, the grip around his sword tightening involuntarily. The sai forgotten between his hip and bejewelled belt.

“Oh, look what an underwhelming surprise.” He stepped forward, his knees bent, and the sword raised “Two of the wannabe hero team.”

At the same time, a black and anticipating smile spread over Bellisa’s face “I don’t know if I should be offended. I was hoping for The Justice League.”

Robin and Mischief continued walking towards them until they were only few metres in front of the two criminals.

“Well, they usually don’t waste their time with fake villains, you know?” Mischief asked, feeling his heart throb “If you want to get their attention, your gonna need to up your game, lady.”

-

Robin’s staff fizzled with energy as it hit the Demon’s sword, halting it mid-air. Both parties fought for dominance, pushing their weapon as hard as they could in opposite directions. Ra’s Al Ghul’s face contorted before his strength outweighed Robin’s.

However, the Wonder Boy did not let him win, dropping his stick from the duel, he rolled left, away from the sable’s reach. The perfectly polished metal hit the dirt seconds after Robin had gotten out of its way.

The young hero kneeled a few metres away from the assassin. He thrusted two ninja-stars in Ra’s Al Ghul’s direction. Swinging his sword in the air, Ra’s blocked the small weapons, sending them clattering to the ground.

“Is that all you’ve got?” he asked, stepping towards Robin with risen sword.

There was a metallic marble, a white gas and the spot where the young hero had stood was deserted. Ra’s circled around his own axis, seeking the bugging teen.

A knife soaring through the air interrupted his search. The assassin had barely enough time to step back before the metallic weapon cut the air by his side, hitting the black van and remaining incrusted in its wall.

Mischief ducked a few metres before them.

“No kidding, lady.” The masked teen said “You are really serious with those knifes.”

Unaware of the assassin before him, Mischief’s eyes continued glued on the long-haired lady who had (unfortunately) spotted her ally behind the young hero. Only a few steps and the assassin was right behind him his sword ready to strike and bathe in fresh blood.

The exact same moment, the black-caped shadow appeared in Ra’s left side. Before he had enough time to divert his attention, the staff hit his back, sending agonizing current through his cape and body.

The Head of the Demon stepped backwards, longing for Robin’s blood. Yet, the young hero in red was not finished, his fist snapped up, successfully hitting the assassin’s chin. Ra’s fell to the ground in seconds.

-

Meanwhile, as Robin dissolved into darkness and Mischief dodged knives, a blonde, dark-skinned hunter observed the combatants from afar. By his side, four farmers with trembling hands packed box after box of wolfsbane in the back of the van.

The brown cartons piled up, sweet pollen filling the vehicle’s inside. Bellisa’s eyes glimpsed the silent movement. Only a second,  she grinned at her accomplice before returning her attention to the masked boy in front of her. Behind the struggling pair, the fire had awakened again, roaring up at the sky.

A few minutes passed, enough to load the back of the truck. As soon as the last farmer let go of the last box, the hunter’s hand raised to his ear.

 _“We’re loaded.”_ He whispred. Metres behind her, the struggling woman nodded between strikes, her gesture passing unnoticed by Mischief. A knife flew out of her hand, Ra’s Al Ghul fell to the floor.

The hunter knew it was his moment to step in.

-

While Robin stepped around Ra’s Al Ghul recovering figure, his stick tightly gripped around his hands, Mischief dodged the third knife Bellisa had pulled out of her belt.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not get near enough to attack. Not when he had to roll to the side and jump backwards every second, avoiding being chopped into pieces.

“Really, lady?” he asked when his backflip got him out of the fourth knife’s range “Where are you pulling those knives from? Is there a magical pocket in your pants?”

Bellisa did not bother replying before sending the fifth knife on its way.

Mischief rolled to the side, landing on one of his knees. Having had enough, his hand snapped to the back of his belt, closing around a batarang.

A sudden wave of pain in the back of his back made the metallic weapon slide out of his hand. Black dots blurred his vision, the tall plants moving in circles around him. Before Mischief knew what had happened, two fists closed around the front of his suit, lifting him off the ground.

The young hero only glimpsed a shadow before his attacker thrusted him sideways. The air hurled inside his ears and hit his face as he cut through the air. Not knowing what was happening, his instincts kicked in, hand latching forward to soften the fall.

However, Mischief was not able to do anything against the earth’s impact on his back. Sweltering heat hit Mischief in the face as he rolled through the field, unable to bring his body to a stop.

His left arm broke out in pain when the movement finally stopped, his chest resting on the ground. Giving in to his first instinct to get out of the agonizing heat immediately, Mischief tried to push his body up.

A heavy boot landed on his back, pushing him back down. Cold mud splashed over Mischief’s face, his hand remaining motionless inside the raging fire. An image flashed behind Mischief’s closed lids but disappeared as soon as it had come.

“Have I played my game up enough for you?” Bellisa’s voice mocked above him.

-

Robin was landing from a backflip when he saw it happened behind Ra’s shoulder. A tall, black-dressed bald hunter hitting Mischief in the back of his head.

A sudden flash of light made him jump aside to dodge Ra’s strike. When his eyes landed again on his cousin, he was sprawled on the floor, too close to the raging fire, Bellisa loaming above him.

The second he was distracted, Ra’s Al Ghul knew to take advantage of. His free hand snapped up, hitting The Boy Wonder in the face. Before he could recover, the Demon twisted the grip of his sword, hitting Robin’s gut. In the blink of an eye, Robin joined Mischief on the floor.

-

Had the young heroes not been as lucky that night, the night might have ended that moment. Both on the ground, Ra’s and Bellisa loaming over them with satisfaction written all over their faces.

However, an approaching shadow with a blue eagle printed on his chest was able to turn the tables.

The oldest bat ran through the field, his sight firmly set on the fire before him. The nearer he got, the clearer the silhouettes got. His family fighting with three taller figures. It was not long until he noticed the masked boys were on the ground, struggling to keep their hands up.

Within an instant, the instincts he had trained throughout his entire life kicked in, accompanied with a rush of adrenaline. Two ninja-stars soared through the air unnoticed, hitting their target.

Ra’s Al Ghul’s head shot back when the delicate silk he was wearing ripped open, the clean slash through his arm tainting the cloth with  blood. Turning into slits, his eyes were quick to identify the approaching figure.

A couple of metres to his left, Bellisa’s entire body had turned towards NIghtwing, frowning in curiosity at the tall hero.

Mischief grabbed the opportunity and rolled as far away from the fire as he could.

Meeting both his new opponent’s eyes with a raised chin, Nightwing armed himself with his sticks, not slowing down for a second.

“Boss! Great One!” a shadow inside the driver’s seat of the van shouted “We’re ready. Let’s go!”

Every movement halted on the fields, three pairs of eyes glancing into each other with cold calculation.

A smile as sweet as the devil spread over Bellisa’s face “Maybe next time, sweetie.”

They bolted. Before Nightwing could do anything to stop them, they had gotten inside the black van. Engines roaring, the only thing left was a shrinking black dot in the distance.

-

“None of it makes sense.” Dick muttered, not moving his gaze from the transparent board in front of him“Why would the hunters be working with The League of Assassins?”

Sitting behind him, on the grey sofa, Tim’s eyes remained glued to the screen projected in front of him. The small metallic holographic projector rested on the couch table, projecting a blue map of the entire states with a red dot moving in it.

Beside him, Stiles’ glance was caught somewhere in between the map, the filled board behind him and the bandage he was trying to wrap around his left forearm. It would have been a lie to say his cousins were not aware of his occasional hisses of pain. However, they knew better and stopped themselves from commenting in every way.

“Ra’s.” Stiles’ eyes remained on the board for a second, observing the red lines between pictures “He said something about Bialya.”

Even though the three bat kids had restrained themselves from writing anything even closely related to The League and the team on the board since it was in the middle of Derek’s living room, all three of them saw the connection at the same time.

“You think the hunters are working for The Light?” Tim asked, his eyes briefly leaving the hologram and brushing Stiles.

Said person wrapped the last few centimetres of cloth around his wounded skin “Or working _with_ The Light. There is a connection, the question is which.”

Turning around, Dick walked back to the sofa Stiles and Robin were sitting on, resting his hands on the rest. His eyes wondered through the messy apartment which had become their base of operations after Stiles had called them for help. Crumpled sheets and half-filled papers filled the couch and floor, accompanied by pictures and printed internet pages scattered through the entire apartment.

Dick glanced out of the window “They _did_ welcome Black Manta in their squad recently.” He shrugged “Who says they didn’t make another addition to the team?”

“An addition that had the power to control werewolves and all sorts of shapeshifters.” Stiles added.

“Which The League officially has no idea of.” Tim turned his torso, leaning his elbow on the couch’s rest “That might explain why Ra’s was involved. But it doesn’t tell us why The Light suddenly wanted to kidnap werewolves.”

Dick looked over his shoulder at the filled board with nothing but unanswered questions “Or why they would choose this pack in particular.”

“We also have no idea what happened to that Rodriguez pack.” Tim commented, looking down at Mischief’s notes “They might have gotten kidnapped, too. Or they might be working _with_ the hunters.”

“I don’t think so.” Stiles shook his head “The Rodriguez—they _hated_ every hunter in the land. Made it very clear they should all be exterminated.”

Tim rose an eyebrow “Well, another unanswered question, then.”

Glancing at the red dot still in motion, Stiles picked his black phone from the table “If that van doesn’t stop moving soon and we don’t find them, I’m gonna have to come up with another excuse.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Tim showed him a phone he had (apparently) been caring with him this entire time “I texted their parents. They got a message confirming your story a couple of hours ago.”

Stiles’ eyes brushed the screen, displaying all hacked device’s information. At least one thing that night would not cause them additional trouble.

“I called Miss M.” Dick changed the topic, looked at Stiles “We will need her help on this one. Her telepathic powers will alter the pack’s perception, ensuring the safety of your identity.”

Stiles’ eyebrows rose “I thought you would try to stop me from going.”

“I wanted to.” Dick smiled and walked back to the board. His eyes landed on the improvised photographs of the missing teens “But who would I kid, I know there’s no way you are going to stay here and rest your arm.”

“Is she the only one coming with us?” Stiles couldn’t help but ask.

Not facing him, Dick nodded “Yeah.” He answered “Barbara will remain in Gotham and Mount Justice in case we need backup. _Only_ if it is necessary. This whole supernatural thing—it was supposed to be your secret mission. Batman has never wanted anyone to find out.”

Before Stiles could reply, Tim jumped on his feet.

“The point, guys.” All eyes fell on the hologram “It stopped moving near Central City.”

-

Scott pressed his ear as hard as he could against the cold wall, placing his index finger before his lips to bring the werewolves around him to silence. All at once, their pessimistic, frustrated and slightly aggressive chatter stopped.

“I want double security, _now_!” the woman they had come to know as Bellisa shouted from the other side “Those— _kids_ are onto us and we can’t afford them ruining our deal, get it?”

Muffled, intimidated voices answered, intelligible for Scott.

“Well, I don’t give a _damn_.” Bellisa cried again “We’re accelerating the shipment. Get the wolfsbane processed within the next hour. The plane will be in the air in two hours, understood?”

With racing heartbeat, Scott stepped back. His wide eyes fell on the four betas in the same room as him. Jackson stared at him with crossed-arms, raising his eyebrows in spite of his blackened eye. Boyd leaned against one of the small white room’s walls, staring at the floor. Only Erica and Isaac, both standing quietly in the middle of the empty room, leaned forward to hear what Scott had to say.

“Something happened.” He said, staring at the metal door depriving them from liberty “They got wolfsbane and want to use it to—ship something in a plane.”

“Something or someone?” Isaac asked, stepping closer. The stench of blood hit Scott’s face, coming from his green shirt with newly acquired red circles.

Scott shook his head “I don’t know.”

Of course, Jackson used that moment to step in “Well, look at you McCall, not even able to eavesdrop on our kidnappers properly.”

Taking a deep breath, Scott refused to let his crawls appear.

“My senses are still weak from the wolfsbane.” He answered calmly “If you can do a better job, go ahead.”

He pointed at the wall behind him, the wall they had found out, was not as soundproof as the hunters would have wanted it to be.

“What if they _do_ ship us somewhere?” Boyd asked from the other side of the room, his gaze lowered “What are we going to do then?”

“We are not letting that happen.” Scott immediately answered “We are getting out of here.”

Jackson walked towards him, his steps echoing though the utterly white walls around them.

“How are you planning on doing that, genius?” he asked, raised his shoulders inquisitively “What _haven’t_ we come up with in the last twenty-four hours we’ve been here?”

Scott shook his head “You don’t know if it has been that long.”

Jackson rolled his eyes, shook his head. Before they knew it, his back was sliding down the nearest wall. “Sure feels like it.” he said once he landed on his butt “Face it McCall, we’re cosmically, _royally,_ infinitively screwed.”

-

Neither Scott, nor any of the four present betas were counting the minutes that had passed. None of them were aware of the passing time. In fact, neither of them knew which day it was or the last time they had eaten.

Yet, when the door opened after they had eavesdropped on the huntress’ conversation with her minors, they knew nothing good was going to come out of it.

Stepping through the closed mountain-ash circle behind the door, Bellisa and two other hunters stepped into the white room. As she walked forward, satisfied with the silence and lack of movement her arrival was welcomed with, she smiled. Behind her, a tall, dark-skinned man walked with a tablet in his hands. A tablet with five tidily placed syringes filled with white liquid.

“Now, things got a little—messy a couple of hours ago.” Bellisa got straight to the point. “Which forces us to speed things up a little. So, wolves, I’m gonna spell this out for you as easily as I can.”

The woman’s face distorted in a false smile as she crossed her arms and rested her weight on one of her hips.

“You either let Bruno give you the shot.” She pulled a black stick from her belt. A baton “Or things get ugly here. Your choice.”

Not needing a word, all four betas gathered in the middle of the room, building a fortress able to withstand the storm headed their way. Shoulder next to shoulder, they melted into a single striking force, ready to strike back.

In the middle of the group, Scott frowned, observing the huntress with curiosity. However, before he could open his mouth, Erica stepped forward.

“Go to hell, bitch.” She spat, looked down at the huntress’ feet “You can try anything you want but we won’t do a thing you say.”

Bellisa looked down at her baton “I was hoping you would say that.” She looked back at Bruno, then out of the completely opened door “Get the syringes ready and our friends ready to attack. This is going to be fun.”

The moment another two long-coated men stepped into the room, Scott, Isaac, Erica, Boyd and Jackson exchanged a firm glance. The newcomers were not hunters. Long-sleeved garments decorated their bodies, silk and black wool hanging from their backs. Swords hung on their hips instead of guns. Dark cloths covered part of their faces.

Eyes flashed golden. Crawls burst out. Knees bent. The five betas observed the newcomers, not knowing what they were, but getting ready to do whatever was needed.

Which turned out not to be unnecessary.

For in that moment, the five syringes on the tablet floated up in the air like helium balloons. Everything seemed to stop as both parties, hunters and werewolves, followed the slowly rising plastic with their gazes. They wondered up before entering the vents.

Silence ruled over the room.

Until the metallic door slammed shut with a deafening clang.

All eyes jumped to the closed door, inevitably noticing the shadow beside it, placed exactly where it would have been able to hide while it was opened.

The masked boy leaning on the wall with crossed arms, gazed at the werewolves for just a second. Something familiar glittered in his eyes when they crossed with Scott’s. Something that made Scott think of warm jokes and hidden amusement.

However, the boy with a green fox on his chest turned his attention to Bellisa within the next second.

“Haven’t stepped up your game yet, as I see?” he asked, walking forward with the uttermost of calm. He pulled a sai from his belt “Isn’t working too well for you, is it?”

-

The first hunter fell to the ground within seconds. It only took Mischief dodging a messy blow, his sai twisting in his grip and a quick strike.

Behind him, the man with the empty tablet in his hands only had time to turn around before a blue-hooded, green-skinned Martian crossed his path. With gleaming eyes, the Martian’s cold psychic touch got found its way into his mind.

When his body joined the other hunters’, her camouflage disappeared, exposing the unmasked hero to everyone present.

Realizing she was outmatched, Bellisa raced to the closed door. Fiddling inside her pockets to get the key out before running out at full speed.

Occupied with the two assassins before him, Mischief was only able to observe the metallic door opening and closing.

 _“Miss M.”_ he said through the psychic link “ _She’s getting away!”_

Miss Martian was already on her way when the words left Mischief’s mouth. Turning intangible, her figure disappeared through one of the white walls, chasing after the leader of this place.

 _“Already on it, Mischief.”_ She answered _“You get them out of there.”_

While Miss Martian glanced around the corridor, trying to find in which direction Bellisa had headed, Mischief held his place against the two assassins. Contrasting most of the security thugs he could easily disarm and beat, these two were two full-trained boulders of muscle.

For a brief second between two very close cuts, Mischief glanced at the paralyzed figures, staring at him wide-eyed from the middle of the room.

“Not to bother you but,” he commented and dodged “Feel free to help at any moment.”

Before Mischief could see or hear their response, a hand snapped around his throat, cutting off all the air from his lungs.  Mischief trashed with his feet as he was lifted from the ground, fire spreading from his throat to his lungs.

In the blink of an eye, Mischief’s legs swung up, closing around the assassin’s neck. His arms soon joined, hooking themselves around his attacker’s arm. The assassin’s green eyes widened when Mischief’s entire body twisted, the force of it pushing him off the ground.

Within seconds, the assassin’s back crashed against the floor. It only took a quick punch and the man’s eyes fell shut.

When Mischief looked up, his eyes found a firm Scott before him, determination marked on his face. Around him, Erica and Isaac circled the assassin. One fist clenched, his arm stroke. The last assassin fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Smiling, Mischief rose his eyebrows “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

With four unconscious bodies scattered around the room and five very awakened werewolves before him, Mischief’s eyes stayed on the latter ones. He could not help the relieved smile on his lips.

The long-haired blonde werewolf was the first one to step up. Raising her eyebrows, she inspected Mischief from head to toe. Her clothes were torn and dirty, tainted with blood. Her formerly black boots had turned into a mixture of grey and brown, the same shade as some strands of her hair. However, resting her weight on one hip, she still managed to look like a queen in that state.

Mischief stuffed the sai back in its place “You know, you guys sure have some mystical luck getting into trouble.”

Jackson, as battered up and bloodied as Erica, shook his head “You are—?”

“Here to get you out.” Mischief answered, stepping towards the opened door. With one quick motion, the grey line of ash was gone. The young hero turned around to look at the pack “My friends and I are, in fact.”

Naturally, Scott was the next one to speak “Wait. You can’t just—We need— Why--?”

Sighing, Mischief turned around and looked at one after the other, making sure each one of them knew he was taking.

“You’ll get aswers.” He answered with as much softness as he could “Just not now, okay? I need to get you out of here and…”

“We have to get Derek.” Isaac intervened, stepping closer to Mischief.

“And Lydia.” Jackson.

“And Allison.” Scott.

Mischief rose his hands, trying to bring the approaching werewolves to calm down “My team and I will take care of everything, including finding the rest of your pack.” He answered “But first, I need to get you out of here, okay? It won’t be long until Bellisa informs her people about me. We need to go.”

“Let us help you.” Scott jumped in, approaching even further. Mischief thanked Miss Martian for getting into the pack’s head before his entry. “Look for our pack, we can find them.”

“While you’re still half-dazed by the wolfsbane they gave you?” Mischief rose his eyebrows, shook his head “ _No_. Trust us, this is not our first rescue mission. We _will_ get you all out of here.”

-

 _“Taking the betas to the rendez-vous point.”_ Mischief’s voice announced through the telepathic link _“All of them are safe. We should arrive within the next ten minutes. What about you?”_

Nightwing stared at the metallic devices before him, petrified. For the first time in a long time, not knowing what to say.

Miss Martian started speaking before he could tell the team about his discovery in the dark, shady room.

“ _I pursued Bellisa, but there has to be some sort of secret tunnels she escaped through.”_ She replied _“I’m heading for the second room, getting the rest of the pack out.”_

Beside him, Robin shifted in his spot, staring at the silver and red human-sized pods before him.

“We might have found something—” Nightwing halted, looking for the right words. “Something interesting. Robin and I will take a look at it and join you.”

Inside a room in the warehouse’s basement, the weak lights flickered above Nightwing and Robin. Both of them walked around the dusted storage room, their eyes on the six pods before them. The second their eyes had landed on the perfectly undusted devices, both had known what the metallic carcasses with glass and a screen on the front were for. Transporting humans.

 _“We still have to find the alpha and the two humans_.” Mischief reminded the team “ _It won’t be long until alarm strikes and our options get limited.”_

Robin pulled a hand-sized device from his belt, positioning it over his opened palm and raising it above his head. A grid of light was projected by the device, illuminating only one fraction of the room. The laser-beams travelled through the room, acknowledging every single detail in that room.

Once he was finished, Robin glimpsed at the devise before stuffing it back where it belonged. “I’ve got a holographic picture of the place.” He told Nightwing “Let’s go, we can figure out what those things are later.”

With clear lack of satisfaction written all over his face, Nightwing let his eyes wonder around the room before nodding. “Let’s go.”

-

The alarm pounded over the three girls’ head when they stopped running behind a row of lockers. The black-haired teenager rested her palms on her knees, glancing at her strawberry-blond friend whose chest was raising and falling as fast as hers.

“You okay?” she stammered between breaths.

Lydia glanced a her for a minute and let her back fall against one of the lockers. Without saying a word, she nodded.

Seconds had passed when the green-skinned girl joined their side. After a quick glance to make sure the two humans were not harmed, she peeked around the row’s corner. Her skin turned invisible.  Racing steps and commanding voices rose echoed through the halls. Faces covered with cloth, and hips armed with knives tainted in wolfsbane filled the halls.

Miss Martian glanced at the warehouse’s door behind them, knowing the small window of opportunity that was open right now would not remain that way for long. The only door leading to the outside would soon be visited.

“Hey, Miss Green,” Lydia whispered behind her, her voice still shaking from the sprint after the alarm had started “Why aren’t we running out of here?”

Miss Martian turned around to face her, her skin visible again. “My team is bringing your friends here. As soon as everyone is here, we get out of here together.”

Frowning in the darkness of the locker room, Allison stepped forward. However, before she could say anything, a door in the other end of the room burst open. Quick and heavy steps entered the room followed by heavy breathings.

Even though the two girl’s eyes widened and their hearts throbbed in their ears, Allison and Lydia managed to keep their bodies from making any sound, remaining as still as a rock. Miss Martian pulled her hood over her head, taking off from the ground.

 _“Miss Martian.”_ A familiar voice spoke in her head _“We made it. You here?”_

A relieved smile appeared on the Martian’s face. Letting her blue hood fall back on her shoulders, she floated out of the locker’s row. Standing before him was a familiar figure with a fox printed on his chest. Behind him, the five betas breathed heavily after crossing the entire building.

Allison and Lydia were quick to follow her example and stepped out of the shadows. Allison’s hand immediately snapped up to her face, trying to cover up the bright smile on her face.

“Oh, thank God.” She whispered before running past Miss Martain and Mischief to jump into Scott’s arms, wrapping hers around his neck. It did not take long for a kiss to happen.

At the same time, Lydia and Jackson stepped towards each other, holding each other in a tight embrace.

“Well, I guess there is no one here to have a heart-breaking reunion with me.” Isaac muttered and sat down in one bench between lockers.

Erica walked over to his side, a smile hidden in her face while her eyes observed the two entangled couples “Calm the drama, you’re not the only one.”

Momentarily ignoring the happenings behind him, Mischief walked towards Miss Martian.

 _“Robin and Nightwing aren’t here yet?”_ he asked through the link, not being able to hide his surprise.

Miss Martina shook her head, worried “ _No, I thought they were with you_.”

_“They’re not answering through the psychic link. I doubt they are listening to us right now. Something is off.”_

“ _Great._ ” Miss Martian sighed “ _We can’t risk anyone seeing us. It feels like the entire League of Assassin’s joined the hunters. For whatever reason.”_

Behind them, Scott frowned as he observed the two figures in the shadows. Neither of them were talking, nor were they communicating in any sort of way, but their eyes firmly looking at each other told him something was going on. Something the pack was not aware of. It took a subtle pointing at them with his chin and the entire pack had them trapped under their gazes.

“Ehem.” Isaac cleared his voice “What’s going on?”

The two young heroes’ heads snapped in their direction, exchanging one last quick glance. Miss Martian stepped forward.

“Half of our team is still inside the building.” She explained “But we shouldn’t risk staying here more time than necessary.”

Mischief took a deep breath. For a second, just a second, Scott saw the spark in his eyes again. However, his eyes clouded before travelling through the entire locker room.

“Where’s the alpha?” he asked, his voice suddenly dead serious.

Erica’s eyes widened. “Isn’t he who your team is looking for right now?”

Mischief’s wide eyes turned to face Miss Martian “The files NIghtwing hacked only said the pack was being held in two different rooms.”

Isaac’s brows rose “You mean you have no idea where Derek is?”

Cursing under his breath, Mischief let his hands wonder through his hair.

“We need to find him.” Scott stared at the heroes, his hands shaking with conviction “We’ll split up, cover more ground.”

“I am not working with those freaks!” Jackson stepped in, placing himself between the two heroes and the pack. He pointed at Mischief “They are wearing masks, in case you haven’t noticed. People with good intentions usually _don’t_ wear masks!”

The tall werewolf scoffed “We have no idea who these people are or why they are helping us.”

Within seconds, Allison had jumped out of Scott’s side. “Are you for real?” she stared incredulous at Jackson “They are getting us out of here! Why the hell should we not trust them?”

The heat rose in the room, hearts beat faster. The air between the werewolves throbbing, only waiting for one of them to snap.

“Guys.” Miss Martian got their attention “We told you we would explain everything later. Right now, we need to get you to safety.”

“Oh, and now we are going to listen to an alien.” Jackson answered and scoffed “Go back to your planet.”

“Jackson!” Scott shouted.

“Hey!” Mischief stepped right before Jackson, having known deep down this would happen “This is _not_ going to help finding your alpha, get it? You are still pumped with…”

What happened next would always remain in Mischief’s head. Throughout his childhood, he had trained with Batman, fought the Joker, spied on Penguin. The acute danger he had faced wearing the mask had taught him to react within a heartbeat, to be ready for anything.

Thus, when Jackson’s hand snapped up to close around his wrist, Mischief did not hesitate a second to jump into action. Closing both of his hands around the werewolf’s arm, he twisted it backwards as far as he could without breaking it. Jackson hissed in pain. His chest crushed against the closed locker, inhibiting every attempt to escape from the young hero’s grip.

If Mischief had not been too concentrated on his victim, he would have heard the small giggles behind him.

“Listen, _wolfie_.” He spoke into his ear “We are here to get you out, whether you believe us or not. Part of the reason _why_ we can’t explain what is going on is because we don’t know it ourselves. The question of _how_ we know about you is going to have to bother you for a bit longer. Right now, we need to work together because _your_ alpha as well as _this_ squad’s leader are somewhere lost inside that building, okay?”

He let go of Jackson’s arm, stepping back to his position beside Miss Martian “These hunters are working with an organisation called The League of Assassins. As badass as you think you are, these people have trained their entire lives and I would _not_ recommend underestimating them.”

“Why?” Lydia asked, not specifying whether she meant the hunters working with the League of Assassins or the kidnapping.

“We don’t know yet.” Miss Martian answered.

Steps and clattering passed through the door Mischief and the werewolves had used to come to the room.

As soon as they quieted, Mischief looked each of the werewolves in the eye “Whatever it is they are planning, they need _you_ for it. Which is why getting you out of here is our top priority.”

“What about Derek?” Boyd asked.

“I’ll go and look for him.” Mischief answered “I’ll look for him and our teammates. Meanwhile, Miss Martian will get you somewhere safe.”

His eyes quickly glanced at the Martian “ _Get them to the bioship. Out of the two of us, you stand far better chances of getting them out safely should something happen. I’ll report anything that happens.”_

Miss Martian nodded. _“Be careful.”_

A soft smile brushed Mischief lips as he nodded back. His eyes fell on the werewolves and two humans before him.

“You need to do whatever she says. She is your ticket out of here. I’ll get Derek.” Something moved in his stomach when he pronounced the name.

“Will you make sure no one in here has any stupid ideas?” his eyes fell on Scott, knowing he was the one to trust.

Eyes as firm as steel stared back into his when the werewolf nodded. Just when Mischief was about to open the door and head out, when the pack and Miss Martian were right next to the opposite door, Scott turned around.

“You didn’t tell us what your name is.” He simply said.

Without turning around, Mischief smiled at the irony in those words. For once in his life, he answered that question with complete honesty.

“Mischief.”

-

There was no sign, no sound, no warning that could have told Mischief what was about to happen. One moment he was swinging down from the vents, his outstretched hands still touching the cold metal above. The next he was crashing against the floor, barely missing one of the equipment-filled tables.

He only had seconds to inspect the dark room before the shadow was over him and a gigantic punch rained down on him. His head hit the ground hard and his tongue tasted iron.

Within a second, Mischief rolled underneath one of the filled desks and jumped on his feet, bringing a computer and many filled folders between him and his attacker.

Mischief barely had time to spit out the red liquid that had accumulated in his mouth before the attacker jumped at him again. Just in time, Mischief jumped on one of the tidily arranged working desks in the room and swung his leg upwards.

His boot hitting skin, he forced the figure to step backwards, using her hands to support herself on a desk to stop herself from falling.

Pulling his sai out of his belt, Mischief assessed his opponent. Her face was covered with a white mask stretching over her entire face. Aside from two holes in the eyes, the shape of a white nose and white lips, the mask was void. Dark curls ran down his attacker’s shoulders, landing on a black hoodie.

A frown forged its way into Mischief’s face when he realised Miss Mask had no weapon with her. She only needed an instant to recover and strike again, jumping on the same table as Mischief before trying to punch him in the face.

Her movements were so fast, Mischief barely had time to duck. Knowing he was in a clear disadvantage, he jumped to the table before him.

“Lady, relax, will you?” he tried to bide his time. She did not answer “You are neither a hunter, nor an assassin.”

Her answer was to leap towards him. Mischief let himself fall flat on the table. Miss Mask flew in an arch above him and the table, landing two desks away.

“Fine, if that’s how you want to play it.” he muttered to himself before getting back on his feet.

Miss Masked appeared next to him, her fist falling on the desk Mischief had just vacated. The wooden structure crumbled with a loud crash underneath her force.

Behind the mask, the attacker frowned, not having seen where Mischief had gone. That second, the metallic marbles hit the back of her head, exploding. Disoriented, Miss Masked fell to the ground, stopping the fall with her hands.

Her hands grasped for one of the desk’s edge. However, Mischief was already on the move. Two ninja stars soared through the air, encrusting themselves between the thick sleeve and the desk’s wood.

Miss Masked struggled to free her hand with her entire might. However, she remained unsuccessful. Twisting her arm to get on her feet, she pulled one more time. The ninja stars did not give in.

“They’ve held Superboy himself for a couple of seconds.” Mischief said, standing behind the desk “I doubt your strength comes anything close to his.”

A growl escaped from beneath the mask. With one strong pull the hoodie’s sleeve ripped off. Without thinking, Miss Masked jumped at Mischief who ducked. Not being able to stop her flight, she crashed against a cupboard on the wall.

The shelves rained down upon her when she landed on the floor. Mischief only swung his sai back and hit her temple.

His gaze rested on the buried figure beneath shelves and books for a second, making sure she did not move. When Mischief was sure she was unconscious, he sighed and ran his sleeve through his mouth.

He was not surprised when his lip stung, and warm liquid tainted his black glove.

Taking a deep breath, Mischief got on his knees. His curiosity getting the better of him. His gloved hands carefully turned the body around, laying it on its back. With the same care, his hands closed around the mask, removing it from his attacker’s face.

“What the—?!” he let go of the mask as of it were poison the moment he saw the face beneath it.

His heart raced in his chest at hundred kilometres per hour. His hands shook, his eyes not being able to look away from the face before him.

“You were supposed to be the one on that floor.” An unmistakable voice said behind him, lacking its usual cheer. The door slammed shut “But you really are a _remarkable_ actor. Really made me believe you didn’t know how to defend yourself.”

Mischief spun around. Even though he had immediately known who that voice belonged to, he could not believe what he saw. Neither could he believe who the face behind the white mask was. Those black curls, the green behind the closed lids. Her speed, her strength.

Alice Rodriguez.

“Tell me, Stiles.” Miguel crossed his arms and leaned against the door “Does Scott know you are playing superhero?”

-

The pounding alarm lost intensity the further away they got. Following Miss Martian’s instructions, the werewolves and two humans had crawled through the electric fence’s hole Nightwing had made.

Running behind Miss Martian’s floating figure, the seven teens remained on course. At least, they did until a twig broke and someone cried out. Miss Martian immediately stopped her floating to glance back between the tall trees. East, a dim light started to emerge and illuminate the darkness. It would not be long until dawn.

“What happened?” the Martian asked, going back.

Between broken branches and half-decomposed trees, Lydia kneeled on the floor, trying to get on her feet as her breathing staggered. Beside her, Allison, her face as red as Lydia’s, tried to help her get up. Jackson did the same thing on her other side.

“Lydia and Allison.” Scott sais beside her “They aren’t as fast as we are.”

Leaning on Jackson’s chest, the strawberry-blonde girl managed to stay on her feet. Meanwhile, Erica stepped forward, hooking her arm around Allison’s.

Isaac looked at Miss Martian “We need to slow down.”

“No.” Miss Martian quickly replied “I need to get you to the bioship as soon as possible and go back there. The psychic link is broken which mean Mischief is now also in trouble. I can’t—”

At those words, Lydia’s figure straightened up a bit “Wait.” She interrupted “Psychic link? That’s how you were talking to each other inside the locker room.”

All eyes stared at Miss Martian with something between astonishment and fear in them.

“Yeah.” She nodded “And that’s why we can’t slow down.”

The Martian’s eyes gleamed green, Lydia and Allison’s feet stopped touching the ground.

“I’ll have to carry you with my telepathic powers.”

However, before they could continue the path they had been heading, leaves rustled around them, quickly followed by an arrow soaring through the air.  Acting out of instinct, Boyd threw himself over Miss Martian, tackling her to the ground. A surprised cry escaped Miss Martian’s lips, seconds before a flaming arrow hit the tree behind her.

Her eyes inspected the slowly burning tree behind her. Miss Martian swallowed hard.

“Thanks.” She nodded at Boyd as they both got on their feet. The boy only nodded as a response.

The pack and Miss Martian’s eyes inspected the forest around them. Shadows started dropping from the trees. Silhouettes dressed in long cloaks, covering half of their faces with cloths.

It was only seconds and they were surrounded. Back to back, the pack and Miss Martian eyed their opponents.

“That’s nothing to worry about, right?” Allison asked, her eyes jumping between the assassins to their weapons.

A particularly tall, somewhat handsome and rich-looking assassin stepped out of the shadows. Not only was he the only one not covering his face, but also the only one swinging a sword of gold.

“No, child.” He answered “Come with us and you won’t have to die.”

Ra’s Al Ghul stepped forward, eying the five werewolves with hunger. “Else, well.” He took in a deep breath, let his sword reflect the few light coming from the dawn “you’ll see what’ll happen.”

Surprisingly, Miss Martian was not the first one to answer. Before she could place herself between the pack and the immortal assassin, someone else stepped forward.

Blond curls tainted with blood and cheeks covered in dirt, Erica crossed her arms and raised her chin.

“I said it to your girlfriend and I’ll gladly repeat it for you.” She looked down at his shoes and then back at him “Go to hell, bitch.”

-

Mischief’s grip tightened around the sai, his fingers turning white. Not to compare with his heated face, submerged in anger and hate.

“ _You_ go them kidnapped.” He spat at the alpha before him “Why? What possible reason would you have to betray them?”

Miguel did not fall for the trap. On the contrary, his eyebrows furrowed in deeper curiosity as he stepped forward.

“Why didn’t they recognize you?” he asked, while Mischief stepped backwards “I mean, even _I_ wasn’t fooled by that mask and even if I was, your scent—it is more than obvious.”

Mischief stared into the werewolf’s eyes as firm as he could. Just like Alice, he was wearing a black sweatshirt and black pants. No weapons.

Miguel smiled “It’s the Martian, isn’t it?” he smiled “My, my, Stiles, fiddling with your pack’s minds. I’m impressed.”

“How do you--?” Mischief asked, wondering how much the alpha truly knew.

Before he could finish his question, Miguel’s eyes blazed red and his claws burs forward. Mischief barely had time to step aside and out of the alpha’s range. His hand swung up, using the sai in his hands like he rarely did. The weapon’s sharp point cut through Miguel’s face, leaving a long slash from his temple to his chin.

One drop of blood fell from the cut before the skin stretched and covered the wound, leaving nothing behind. Not even a scar.

“Kind of tough, isn’t it?” Miguel asked, fangs out on the open “Fighting against someone you can’t wound?”

Mischief quickly circled around the alpha, placing himself nearer to the door. Using Miguel’s moment of mockery to his advantage, he jumped off his feet, kicking Miguel in the face. When the werewolf stumbled back, Mischief’s fist rushed up, hitting his chin. The sai against the werewolf’s temple was the last thing needed for Miguel to fall to the ground, his lip open and bleeding.

Everything for nothing. Within the next second, Miguel coughed and raised his head to look at him. His lip perfectly healed.

Behind the recovering werewolf, Mischief glimpsed Alice’s figure, still unmoving. His heart throbbed in his ears when it dawned on him.

He could take them down. Mischief could take enemies as Miguel and Alice down, even stronger enemies. With ease. His hard training and extensive experience guaranteed so much. However, the problem was not in bringing Miguel down.

It was in _keeping_ him down.

No matter how hard he hit, how wounded Miguel was, the werewolf could shake it off and restart the fight. Usually, when Mischief fought against such an opponent, it was only with the team or Batman, never alone. Fighting against an enemy able to heal any wound was suicide, unless one was planning on a fast kill.

Knowing Alice and Miguel would get up soon and he had no chance against two unwoundable opponents, he spun around and ran out of the room.

 _“Nightwing, Robin, Miss Martian.”_ He spoke through the link _“I need backup. Immediately.”_

The moment he thought of those words, he knew it had not worked. The psychic link had broken. As he ran through the empty corridor, Mischief knew that was why Nightwing and Robin had not answered. Something inside this building, inside this section, hindered telepathic communication.

Which meant he was in the right place to find answers.

When he turned right, a shadow jumped into his eyes. A blonde hunter with a black leather jacket and jeans, looking in the opposite direction from which Mischief was coming.

Knowing his time was limited by the alpha behind him, Mischief did not slow his pace down. He fastened it. Just when he was a few metres behind the hunter, he jumped off his feet. Flying through the air, above the hunter, his hands snapped around the man’s shoulder.

When Mischief landed on the floor, he pulled the man forward, propelling him over his head before the hunter’s back hit the floor hard. All of that in seconds. Before the man knew what had happened, Mischief was already over him, his sai pressed against his throat.

“Where’s the alpha?” he asked. When he got no answer, he pressed the sai harder against the man’s throat “I asked: _Where is the alpha_?”

The man whimpered but refused to speak.

“Don’t make me ask again.” Mischief warned one last time, wondering how the man was still able to breath with the pressure on his throat.

After a few seconds, the man’s face reddened. “Fine!” he spat, trying to get air into his lungs. Mischief loosened the pressure. “He’s in the third floor, the room in the end of the eastern hallway. The one with the door of metal.”

Mischief smiled “Thank you very much.”

His fist found the way to the man’s temple, sending him into oblivion. Not a second had passed and Mischief was already running towards the staircase.

Closely behind, Miguel followed his footsteps. Not giving the fallen man any importance, Miguel too, headed for the stairs.

-

The locker room was deserted when Robin and Nightwing arrived. The masked heroes inspected the entirety of the room within seconds. However, the pack, as well as Miss Martian and Mischief, were nowhere in sight.

“What now?” Robin asked, looking at footage of the hacked cameras “We can’t just assume they headed out without us.”

Nightwing shook his head and gave it one more try. While they had explored the building, the telepathic link had broken, cutting them off from the team. Not only that, but the alarm had soon echoed through the halls, exposing them and putting a couple of assasins and hunters on their hunt.

Returning to the rendez-vous would not have been a problem. Returning without being followed was rather difficult. Frustratingly, it had taken them longer than wanted. Without the telepathic link down, there was no way they could know what had happened on the other half of the gigantic warehouse.

“ _Miss Martian? Mischief?”_ he asked through the link _“Where are you?”_

Robin’s eyes widened when he heard his brother speak in his head, knowing they were back in the communication line. Yet, for a couple of seconds, no one answered. Frowning, Robin gave it another shot.

 _“Mischief? Miss Martian?”_ he asked “ _Can you hear us?”_

A relieved sigh escaped their lips when a female voice responded.

 _“We’re outside, in the woods.”_ Her voice cut off, distracted _“We were ambushed by Ra’s. The pack and I are barely standing our ground.”_

The second she uttered the last word, Nightwing had already opened the door and stepped into the fresh air. “Let’s go.”

Both, Robin and Nightwing were out of the fence and in the woods within the following ten seconds.

-

Mischief had made it to the third floor when he heard Miguel’s steps behind him. Fastening his pace and ignoring his heart about to explode, he kept his sight set on the hall before him, thinking of nothing but getting to Derek as fast as possible.

“Come on, Stiles!” Miguel shouted behind him, getting nearer “You don’t really think you can outrun me, do you?”

The steps got louder after each second. Doing the first thing that came into mind, Mischief burst into a wooden door to his left, opening it with his shoulder’s strength. Running into the opened room in hopes of finding something able to help him out of this situation, Mischief was not expecting what he encountered.

The long room was filled with white cupboards, locked with silver locks. Metallic tables lined up along the wall, empty but covered in white and blue long sheets of paper. A stinging smell burned into Mischief’s nose, reminding him of a hospital. In the middle of the room was a long, cushioned chair with straps.

Small rays of light fell on the white floor. As Mischief stepped in, he got a glimpsed of a pinboard beside the door. The images there and information displayed reminded him of a single green-haired, white-skinned individual he had had the misfortune to meet in his life.

Before Mischief could get the hell out of this place, a shadow blocked the way.

“Not the nicest room you could have picked.” Miguel briefly looked at the white walls “But at least you can’t go far now.”

Still holding his sai tightly in his grip, Mischief rose it between him and Miguel.

“What’s your deal anyway?” He asked, stepping back to bring distance between them “Why are you chasing me? Why are you working with hunters?”

Miguel locked the door behind him before walking into the room. Mischief tried the psychic link one more time but remained as unsuccessful as the former times. He was on his own.

“You and your friends are ruining something I’ve been planning for a long time.” Miguel answered, looking down at a metallic table with scalpels. “If you get Derek out of here, you will have ruined everything. I can’t let that happen.”

“I hate to burst your amateur-villain bubble, but Scott and the rest are already out.” Mischief placed himself behind the chair, using it as protection “Not looking so well for you in the villain business, is it?”

Miguel smiled “Don’t be so sure you are winning yet.”

His heart throbbing in his chest, Mischief frowned “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Miguel was only a few steps before the chair. Mischief took in a deep breath, prepared himself for what was about to come.

Without hesitating another moment, Mischief swung his arm back and threw his sai. As he had expected, the Japanese weapon met its target, hitting and going through Miguel’s shoulder. The werewolf stumbled back.

Mischief jumped and supported his opened palms on the cushioned chair as he made a backflip through the air to land a few steps behind Miguel. He landed on one knee and stretched the other one in a circle, swinging it underneath Miguel’s legs. The werewolf’s feet lost contact with the floor.

As soon as his back landed, Mischief’s fist rose, punching him in the face. A small drop of blood traced its way down the alpha’s nose. Mischief got on his feet. His eyes fell on the empty chair.

“Oh, don’t even think about it.” Miguel immediately knew what was in his mind. Before Mischief could move, the werewolf’s claws slashed his abdomen open. Then his right leg.

Hissing in pain, Mischief’s hands snapped to the bleeding skin. Barely had he seen the red tainting his hand, Miguel was already on his feet. His hand snapped around Mischief’s left forearm, squeezing as tight as he could.

Under the bandage hidden by his suit, Mischief’s wounded skin burst out in flames.

“I thought I’d heard Bellisa mention something about your arm and a fire.” Miguel smiled at Mischief’s attempts to wriggle his arm out of his grip, holding back the flming pain. Black dots blurring Mischief’s sight and agonizing pain clouding his mind, he could not react to the sudden push. His back crashed against a closed cupboard.

“How about this?” Miguel asked and squeezed harder, his other hand pressing Mischief’s shoulder against the cupboard “You and your superhero friends leave _without_ the pack or I’ll kill you right here and now.”

-

Erica had clawed an assassin’s chest open when the pale-skinned, black-suited hero jumped into the scene with two short sticks in his hands. Like a trojan warrior in Erica’s eyes, the man with the blue eagle in his chest swung his sticks with grace and precision.  Within seconds, he had knocked two assassins unconscious.

Jumping out of the way of a blade’s way, Isaac landed by her side before punching the man in the face. Between the clinging of blades and howls of battle, Erica crossed Isaac’s gaze and pointed with her chin at NIghtwing.

“I wouldn’t mind getting rescued more often.” She said and kicked the woman running towards her “Not if the heroes are hotties like him.”

Isaac looked at the pack around him. Boyd was to Erica’s right, struggling with the assassins. Allison had collected two knives, using them to defend herself and Lydia. Naturally, Jackson stood by the strawberry-blonde’s side, ripping everyone to shreds that got too near.

“Could you focus on what is important right now?” Isaac asked and punched an assassin in the face.

Before answering, Erica ducked and punched. “Where would the fun be in that?”

-

“You--” Mischief hesitated, not knowing what to say. A plan took shape in his mind but he needed time. “Why you are siding with the hunters? Look behind you! Look at those photographs! Look at what they are doing to _your_ people! Why the hell are you helping them?”

Miguel’s fist hit his cheek before he knew it.

The veins in Miguel’s forehead got thicket, jumping out of his skin.

“I’m not helping them!” He spat out “I hate every single one of them with every cell in my body. But, sometimes, you gotta do things you don’t like when you want access to certain things.”

With those words, that small piece of the puzzle fell in its place.

“You are using Bellisa to get to The Light.” Mischief muttered “She’s one of them, isn’t she?”

Miguel smiled humourlessly as his claws burst out, digging into Mischief’s skin. Taken utterly by surprised by the sudden pain, Mischief tried to break out of the werewolf’s grip. However, he did not stop shaping his plan.

“You are a smart kid.” Miguel said, raising his voice “Smart enough to ruin my _only_ ticket into the single organization that can _extinguish_ all hunters once and for all.”

Mischief took in a deep breath, he just needed a few more seconds to figure the details out.

“Won’t help much when every werewolf in the country finds out you worked for experimenting hunters and kidnapped packs for them.” Mischief commented, glancing at the window to his left briefly “It won’t matter because no one will ever again welcome you and your pack again.”

The second punch did not take him by surprise.

“Well, that’s why no one will find out.” Miguel smiled soarly. He got nearer to Mischief “Just to make things clear for you, _should_ a miracle happen and _should_ you get out of this alive which I seriously doubt.”

The werewolf’s eyes flashed red “If you utter a _single_ word about me and the hunters to anyone in the pack or any werewolf for that matter,” he said “I will _personally_ deliver Scott the news of his best friend lying to him his _entire_ life about his true identity; a masked vigilante called Mischief.”

“It would be your word against mine.” Mischief’s muscles tensed in anger.

Miguel laughed in his face “Tell me, Stiles.” he said “Has anyone ever betrayed you? Stabbed you in the back? Shown you one side of them only to later turn out to be an entirely different person you didn’t even know? Have you felt the disappointment? The loneliness? The pain?”

Although Mischief hated it, Miguel’s words hit their target perfectly.

The image of a dark-skinned Atlantian flashed inside Mischief’s mind. A honourable leader Mischief had looked up to, Mischief had aspired to be like, Mischief had trusted. Out of everyone, he had been the only one to ever train Mischief’s abilities.

Then he remembered the night Nightwing had told him. The night in Malina Island. How his hands had closed around Superboy’s neck. How he had not once glanced in Mischief’s direction. Like he was nothing. Not important. Like he had never mattered to him. Never been loved.

A grin spread over Miguel’s face “You have, haven’t you?” he asked, rose an eyebrow “Sucks, doesn’t it?”

Miguel got nearer, so near Mischief could feel his breath tingle his skin.

“Would you like to make Scott go through the same pain?” he simply said, leaned back “The same agony? Knowing he will never, in his entire life, trust you again? _Like_ you again? _Love_ you again?”

Mischief did not even need to think about the answer.

However, it was time to act. Just for a second, he closed his eyes, imagined the room before him with every single detail, imagined the scene before him, saw himself many different times, heard his own voice.

When his eyes opened again, it was done.

Behind Miguel stood a teenager with a masked face and a green fox printed on his chest. Another Mischief.

His double tapped Miguel’s shoulder.

“You really should start doing background checks on people you want to kill.” His double muttered, his voice exactly like Mischief’s.

Wide eyed, Miguel snapped around. His grip loosened from Mischief’s arm while he stared at Mischief.2, his mouth gaping open.

On the other end of the room, Mischief.3 joined the party. “Surprised?” he asked with his hands resting on a metallic table with wheels.

Stepping backwards and letting go of his arm, Miguel turned to look at the original Mischief. “How?”

“You’ve got your tricks.” Mischief rubbed his hurting arm with his hand “I’ve got mine.”

A drop of sweat ran down Mischief’s face, his muscles getting weaker each second he maintained the illusion standing.

“Let me help you.” Mischief.3 pushed the metallic table towards Miguel. The moment it hit him in the abdomen, the werewolf stumbled backwards, his eyes jumping between the three present Mischiefs.

His back hit the window, the table a few centimetres before him. Taking the opportunity, Mischief walked towards the werewolf. Meanwhile, Mischief.2 threw a dagger over his head, making Miguel flinch. When Miguel realized Mischief was right before him, it was too late.

There was a punch, a broken window and Miguel was gone.

Knowing it had ended for now but not for long, Mischief let himself fall on his knees. The illusions dissolved into green gleaming powder, including the table. Breathing heavily, Mischief tried to shake the exhaustion out of his system. With shaking limbs, he got on his feet.

He would need his abilities one more time tonight.

-

The Head of the Demon assessed his opponent with disgust in his eyes. His sword circled through the air while Scott observed him through golden eyes. Calculating every move, Ra’s waited for the right moment to strike.

What he did not anticipated was the second teenager raining down on him. The yellow-caped young hero landed with his hands on his head, propelling himself a bit upwards to land a few steps behind Ra’s. Recovering from the surprise, Ra’s turned 90 degrees, one teenager on each side.

Pulling his stick out, Robin shook his head “How about you fight against someone your own speed?”

Before Scott could process the offence in that sentence, Ra’s sword swung up, ready to slice the Boy Wonder in two. However, Robin only dodged and swung his stick before jumping back with a handstand.

By the time Ra’s realized he had been hit, the teenager was out of range. The Head of the Demon grunted in frustration.

“You, insolent child!” he shouted and threw a sai at him.

Acting before thinking, Scott jumped from his position, pushing Robin away and taking his place. The long metallic weapon dug its way into his arm, sending agonizing pain through his body. Yet, Scott could heal the wound while Robin probably could not.

Biting on his lower lip, Scott pulled the weapon out of his flesh, warm blood running down his arm.

Before Ra’s could turn his gaze away from Scott, Robin had already swung his staff again. Stepping back, Ra’s’ eyes were forced to take in his surroundings. Most of the assassins he had brought were already on the floor, unconscious or wounded.

The pack was bleeding, dirtied and exhausted. But they were still standing.

Plus, the three perfectly trained young heroes with mad skills and tons of energy were still fighting. If Ra’s was one thing, it was a wise man. A wise man knew when to end a fight. Stepping back towards the forest, he brought distance between him and Robin.

“Retreat.” He called out to his people “We will end this fight another day.”

Before anyone had time to react, thick fog filled the forest, blinding every single person present. Even the werewolves’ eagle-like sight could only spot shadows dancing through the fog. Coughing out the burning in his throat, Scott and everyone present waited for the fog to dissolve.

When it was gone, so were the assassins.

“We’re clear.” Miss Martian announced from above.

Scott would never deny the immense and goofy smile that spread over his face that moment.

-

When Derek spotted the masked figure walking through the opened door and breaking the line of mountain ash as he walked into the room, his pacing stopped. His eyebrows rose, taking the image before him in. The adrenaline died out in his veins, replaced by confusion and surprise.

“Who the hell are you?” was the only thing he could manage to say.

The figure gazed around the entirely white room, his eyes finally landing on the single shackle around Derek’s ankle. Mischief had to supress a smile when he imagined how much Derek probably hated being chained to a wall.

He looked up at Derek and stepped closer “I’m here to get you out.”

Moody as he was, Derek crossed his arms and raised his chin “And you think I’m gonna believe you that easily?”

Mischief pulled two pins from his belt, stretching them into think lines with his teeth.

“Listen, Mister Sexy.” Mischief spoke with a confidence Stiles would never have “I just had the _fight of my life_ to get to you. Which is why you are going to let me open that thing around your ankle and escort you out of here. You can do whatever you want with your life afterwards. You want to sell pancakes? I’m okay with it. You want to go sleeping around with hot girls? Go ahead! You want to rip people’s heads off? I don’t care! The only thing I care about is getting you out of here, capito?”

For a second, the only thing Derek could do was stare at the masked boy before him, literally not having any words to respond to that. His shirt was ripped and bloodied, his body sweating. Mischief walked towards him and forced his heart to stay calm as he leaned down to knack the lock.

After a few seconds, he stepped back, let the used pins fall to the floor.

“Let’s go.” Mischief pointed at the door and started walking “Before any more hunters come this way and find us.”

“Wait.” Derek’s hand closed around Mischief’s right arm. Even though he was wearing thick leather, a wave of heat rushed through Mischief’s body. Not that Derek would notice anyway.

“What about my pack?” he asked “I’m not leaving without—”

Mischief smiled at him “We already got them out and to safety.” He nodded “You and I are the last ones here.”

Derek opened his mouth, frowned, did not understand.

“Before you ask.” Mischief continued “We are going to explain everything, just not here. Your friends and mine are waiting for us. We need to go.”

When Derek finally agreed to leave and be rescued, he did not say anything about the two unconscious bodies sprawled on the ground before his cell. Neither did he say anything about the other five ones he encountered in their way through the hallways.

Whoever the person before him was, he made something stir inside Derek. Something he could not quite identify. So, silently, he sneaked through the deserted and not-so-deserted hallways, following Mischief.

Another thing he purposefully ignored were Mischief’s shaking hands.

-

He knew they were watching him, could feel their gazes. However, Mischief remained in his seat and looked firmly out of the window. Sitting on the conductor’s seat in the middle of the red spaceship, Miss Martian was the first one to speak.

 _“What happened, Mischief?”_ she asked inside his head. For a second Mischief doubted whether it was only the two of them inside the link. He got an answer as soon as he spotted Nightwing and Robin’s penetrating glare.

Mischief looked at the two masked heroes sitting on the front of the bioship _“I’ll tell you guys later in detail but—there was a third party involved. The other pack was working with the hunters.”_

To his right, Robin frowned “ _Why would they do that?”_

“ _Apparently—”_ Mischief’s answer was cut short when a fascinated voice spoke behind them.

Leaning forward in her seat, Lydia observed the four young heroes with sparks in her eyes “You are doing it right now, aren’t you?” she asked and smiled “The telepathic thing?”

Miss Martian turned to look at them and at her team. Sighing, she nodded. A wave of energy ran through the pack as they exchanged surprised gazes. While Allison, Lydia, Isaac, Erica and Boyd sat on the chairs along the ship’s back wall, Derek and Scott had preferred to remain standing.

Glancing out of the window to meet the dawning sun with its soft colours, Allison took in a deep breath before looking back at the heroes.

“So, what was that all about?” she asked and clapped her hands together “You said you would explain everything when we got out.” She shrugged “We’re out now.”

Mischief and Nightwing exchanged one glance. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the numerous werewolves in the room.

“What, are you getting cold feet now?” Derek asked, crossing his arms “You got us out and we’re thankful but that doesn’t mean we are going to trust you. Not yet anyway.”

Sitting on her high seat, resting her hands on the white spheres that served as controllers, Miss Martian turned her head left to look at the werewolf. Her eyes followed the spaceship’s side, taking the staring passengers in.

“We can’t answer every one of your questions.” She let her shoulders fall “Like Mischief said, we are blurry on some details too. Other things are confidential. The rest—we’ll answer if we can.”

Now it was the pack’s time to exchange confused glances, not knowing quite how to respond and not knowing what to ask.

Turning her chair to face the inside of the ship, Lydia was the first one to raise her voice.

“Who are you?” was her first question.

“We’re a—secret operation team that works for The Justice League.” Nightwing answered, also turning his chair to face the middle of the ship. “The word _secret_ means we would appreciate you not saying anything about what happened to anyone.”

A surprised silence filled the room for one second. Scott leaned back on the ship’s red wall, frowning deeply with lost eyes.

“You don’t strike me as old enough for that.” Derek commented.

He was met with nothing but another wave of silence. Behind his mask, Nightwing rose an eyebrow.

“Well, you don’t strike me as old enough to fight supernatural battles.” Mischief answered.

Again, the sitting and standing members of the pack remained silent. Jackson’s mouth opened, ready to reply. However, before he could speak, Scott cleared his throat.

He shook his head “Why would The Justice League want to get us out of some hunter’s layer?” his eyes brushed Mischief “How did you even know we were there?”

Knowing this question could only be answered by him, Mischief leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his thighs. Shaking his head, Mischief sighed.

“Okay, so, I’m just going to say as much as I can and hope it answers all of your questions.” He said “Things will get too complicated elsewise.”

Allison leaned forward “We’re listening.”

Mischief took in a deep breath, thought for a second about where to start.

Finally, he looked at the pack. “The hunters that captured you have a connection to a criminal organization called The Light.” He said slowly, waited for a response. Motionless rocks stared back at him “We have— history with them. We don’t know what they were planning but it definitely wasn’t anything good.”

“They have talent in plotting behind our backs” Miss Martian interrupted his explanation “Whatever it is we stopped today from happening—it could not have been good.”

Jackson rose his eyebrows defiantly “So you have no idea why they kidnapped us?” he wondered “No idea what they were going to do with us?”

“No.” Mischief answered, clenching his fists without anyone noticing “But we will figure it out. Whatever the big plan is, we are going to find out what it is.”

Jackson scoffed, leaned back on his seat “Well, great job you did tonight.”

“We got you all out in one piece.” Nightwing’s voice was sharper than usual “That’s a successful mission in my book.”

“How did you know we had been kidnapped?” Scott asked “How did you even know about us?”

Mischief sighed “Batman, he—likes to keep track of individuals with special abilities. A group of teenage werewolves fighting kanimas and rouge alphas—that kind of fits into that category.”

Erica’s mouth gaped open “You’re saying you have been spying on us?” she asked “For how long?”

“Don’t think you are an exception.” Robin smiled warmly “He kind of spies on everyone.”

Leaning back, Erica frowned. “That’s-- comforting.”

“So, wait.” Derek ignored Erica and raised his palms “You spied on us, saw we had been kidnapped by that— enemy organization of yours and went to rescue us? That’s it?”

Mischief nodded.

“What about the masked ones?” Isaac interrupted “The ones in the woods?”

“That’s a bit more complicated.” Nightwing stopped the questions from coming once and for all. His eyes remained on the clouds passing by their side “We’ll bring you back to Beacon Hills. We’ll stop at Gotham first but you should be all safe at home within a couple of hours.”

He spun around, steel in his eyes behind the mask “We will keep an eye out for you to stop anything similar from happening again.” His gaze brushed Mischief for a second and returned to the pack “You will be protected. Just return to your normal life and don’t mention us to anyone. We’ll sort out everything else.”

“We could help you.” Scott immediately replied. Mischief was not surprised at all “Help you figure out what those hunters wanted—”

“That’s kind but not necessary.” Miss Martian tried to smile at him “This is our job and we wouldn’t want to endanger anyone unnecessarily.”

“Besides,” Robin continued “Something tells me you’ll be having enough trouble on your own.”

-

It was not until three hours later that the pack set foot in Beacon Hills again. Not because the bioship had taken that long to arrive, but because Miss Martian had purposefully remained longer in the skies than necessary. This was meant to give Mischief enough time to bandage himself up and head for Beacon Hills. Meanwhile, he had reported Nightwing every single detail of his encounter with Miguel. Yet, the same questions remained unanswered. Having more than enough time than necessary, Stiles (with two bruises in his face and a bandaged arm) quickly arrived at Derek’s loft.

He could only gather enough energy to look through the scattered papers and notes once, making sure nothing pointed at his nightly activities and superhuman friends. Once he had made sure nothing would reveal what he had been up to these last days, he let himself fall on the sofa. He sunk into the soft cushion as if it were a cloud.

Aside from the wounds he had gathered, his body barely had enough energy to stand because of the illusions he had casted. Not only had he exhausted himself when he had created his two doubles and made them able to speak, but also had he pushed his body to the limit with using his powers to make Derek (and later the entire pack) see an entirely different person once the psychic link had broken. As far as the pack was concerned, they had stared into a complete stranger’s eyes that had not obtained a single wound during the rescue mission.

Stiles was actually planning to wait for them to arrive, sitting in front of the paper-filled table. However, his lids soon became heavy and his muscles turned into lead. Without really noticing, his head sunk into the heavenly surface and he drifted into an exhausted sleep.

-

It was morning when the pack, bloodied and beaten and exhausted, walked into Derek’s loft, the only place they could clean themselves up and talk about what had happened.

Surprise struck every single one of them when they saw the lock was opened. Their hearts raced when they entered and found chaotic mess before them. Sheets crumpled into balls around the living room, a half-filled board with threats, two laptops in the night table.

Derek was the first one to step forward, closely followed by Scott. After what they had gone through, their senses kicked into high-alert, preparing them for everything to jump out of the next corner.

It was a single misplaced step what gave them away. Isaac’s ankle folded beneath him and the blonde werewolf soon hit the ground. The wood cracked beneath his weight, his chest hit the ground with a loud thud.

That second, a figure jolted up from the couch. Getting on his feet in a heartbeat, the person jumped from the couch and faced the opened door.

The pack did not need long to notice the unfocused reddened eyes that were still half-asleep.

The moment Stiles’ eyes landed on them, the moment he spotted Scott’s brown eyes, Erica’s messy curls, Allison’s bright smile and Derek’s muscles, he did not need to act or fake anything. The biggest grin in his entire life appeared on his face.

In merely seconds, he had crossed the apartment and wrapped Scott around a tight hug.

“You, stupid Scott.” He smiled without letting him go “I told you to call me the next time someone tried to murder you. Instead you go off and get yourself kidnapped.”

His embrace was returned tightly. Even though he could not see it, Stiles knew Scott was smiling.

“Yeah, well.” He answered “Next time perhaps.”

Stepping back, Stiles turned to look at the rest of the pack. His words had triggered the first reaction out of them. As if they had just realized what they had gone through and that they had escaped, laughter and sparkling eyes filled the room. Following Stiles’ example, hugs (bro hugs, not sentimental hugs) filled the room. Even Boyd closed his arms around Erica once.

Obviously, there was one person that did not participate in the warm reunion.

Glad they had come out of it alive, the pack stood in front of the door, smiling like children in Christmas.

-

“Did you do all of this?” Derek asked, standing before Stiles’ filled board with wet hair and shirt “Come up with all of this information?”

Stiles tried really hard to not stare at the blue shirt pasted on the werewolf’s back “Yeah, after I realized you were gone, I just dug up everything I could.”

Not bothering to face him, Derek’s gaze remained on the board while Stiles observed him from the couch. Erica, Isaac, Allison and Lydia had already finished taking a shower and dressing themselves up. Just like Stile,s they were waiting for the rest of the pack to come and join them to talk about the happened events.

“You know, you could tell me what happened.” Stiles said to no one in particular “I would not bother knowing how you got taken and how you got away.”

He would deny it to himself, but deep down he was anxious to know how they would talk about the team. And a certain masked boy with a fox on his chest.

“You could tell us what _you_ did.” A smiling voice spoke from a formerly closed door. Scott stepped out of the room, fully dressed and with a towel over his shoulders “Looks like you had some Sherlocking happening here.”

Beside Stiles, Erica nodded “You could also tell us what happened to your face.”

Before Stiles answered, Scott let himself fall beside him on the couch’s armrest, observing him with curiosity and worry.

“You get kidnapped and I’m the first to talk?” Stiles asked “Hardly seems fair.”

Allison rolled her eyes “Just tell us while we wait for the others.”

Taking a deep breath, Stiles straightened his back “I fought against killer hunters to get information on how to find you.” He said “In fact, I was about to go rescue you when you came.”

Isaac laughed into the apple he was eating “No, really, Stiles.” he looked at him “What happened?”

Raising his eyebrows, Stiles blurted out the lie he had meditated over million times in his head.

“When I realized you were all gone.” He told them and turned to look at Scott “I tried to get into Scott’s room through the window. While I was climbing, things kind of… got slippery.”

Allison shook her head, laughing just like everyone present.

“We get kidnapped and Stiles just falls.” Isaac took deep breaths to calm his laugh “Unsurprising.”

Even though he new the story was far, far from the truth, Stiles suddenly wanted to change the topic above everything else. His eyes darted up to Scott beside him.

“Now, it’s your turn to share.” He said “What happened?”

Lydia put a block down Stiles had filled with scribbles “Looks like you already figured out most of it.”

“We were training with Miguel and his pack.” Isaac explained, darkness drowned his voice when he mentioned that name “We don’t know how they knew we were there, but the hunters jumped out of nowhere. It wasn’t a fair battle at all, they outnumbered us.”

“It sounds like you’re saying there was a fight at all.” Derek intervened, finally turning around and walking towards the couch. He sat down on a cushioned chair next to it “It wasn’t. They used this gas to knock us out. Next thing we knew we were somewhere else entirely, separated from each other in different rooms.”

Stiles’ heart throbbed in his chest when he made the next question.

“What happened to the Rodriguez?” he wondered, looking at Derek and then at the pack “Did they get kidnapped too?”

Erica scoffed, looked down at the bag of cookies in her hand “Those cowards bolted before they even saw the entire threat.” She spat “Left us alone to fight, didn’t lift a single finger to help us.”

“For all the shit he kept saying I had expected Miguel to have at least one gram of honour in him.” Scott shook his head “Not the case.”

When Stiles asked the next question, his mind was entirely somewhere else.

“What happened then?”

The following seconds he listened to the pack interchangeably telling him about the things he knew had happened. Through their perspective he heard how Mischief and Miss Martian had gotten the betas out. How Miss Martian had guided Allison and Lydia through the long halls. How they had fought against an army of assassins with the help of two (according to Erica) very hot heroes.

Even Derek mentioned how Mischief got him out of his cell. A blanket of disappointment fell over Stiles shoulders when he heard with which neutrality Derek spoke about his alter ego.

“They didn’t tell us a lot about what happened.” Erica ended the discussion “Just, general information. Not something we could use to take matters into our own hands.”

“Should we, though?” Allison asked, holding a glass of water in her hands “I mean, they said they would protect us.”

“Yeah, because they want to babysit us.” Erica rolled her eyes “If they think I’m letting them spy on me just like that—"

Isaac shrugged “It’s fine by me. As long as they stay out of our way.”

“How are you going to make sure the hunters don’t come back, genius?” Jackson, who had joined them during the storytelling, commented from the floor “We have to prepare ourselves, be ready to fight back.”

Staring at the floor, Derek shook his head “No.”

“No, what?” Scott asked.

“Whatever happened, that was above our league.” His firm eyes looked up “Whatever that secret team does, we have no idea about it. Those organizations and enemies, that’s the last thing we need right now.”

“We can’t just—” Jackson cut into the conversation.

“We can and we will,” Derek’s head snapped at him “If it had not been for them, who knows what would have happened to us. If what we heard was right, they were going to ship us somewhere. The best thing we can do is follow their instructions and return to normal.”

The alpha took in a deep breath “Those four—they knew what they were doing. It wouldn’t surprise me if their secret team turned out to be far bigger and more significant than what they made it seem. There’s no doubt in my mind they have been playing this game far longer than they made us believe.”

He leaned forward “The best thing we can do is what they said.” He took in a deep breath “And concerning Miguel—if he ever sets foot in our territory again, I myself will make sure those cowards head out of here, tail between legs.”

With no one’s gaze on him, Stiles smiled. His life would return to normal. His two worlds would never have to meet again. His secret was safe.

There was no way he could have known this was not an ending but a beginning. The beginning of a succession of events that would eventually lead to his most precious secret stepping into the light.

 

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope you liked the chapter! If you did, please let me know. I love reading reviews and they really help keeping me motivated!
> 
> Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.  
> Melpomene :D


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